Lando Norris has opened up on the fallout from his clash with McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri at the Singapore Grand Prix, with the Brit admitting he was “held accountable” by team bosses
Lando Norris has admitted he was ‘held accountable’ for his first-lap clash with team-mate Oscar Piastri at the Singapore Grand Prix. The Briton found himself in hot water after a wheel-to-wheel duel with the Aussie at Turn Three, which saw him overtake and leave his McLaren partner seething behind the wheel.
During the high-octane race, Piastri insisted that he should be allowed to pass Norris, but McLaren ruled the contact as a racing incident, noting that the Bristol-born speedster was trying to dodge a major collision with second-placed Max Verstappen when he bumped into his team-mate.
Post-race, Piastri’s frustration lingered, and team boss Andrea Stella assured that the incident would be scrutinised at the McLaren Technology Centre. Norris disclosed the results of this review ahead of the upcoming United States Grand Prix.
“There were talks – that was inevitable,” Norris confessed. “The team held me accountable for what happened, which I think is fair, and then we made progress from there on understanding what the repercussions were for myself and to avoid something worse happening than it did.
“The last thing I want is something like that to happen to cause these kind of controversial talks after a race. And at the same time, I put just as much risk on me putting myself out of the race as I do whoever I’m racing against, whether it’s Oscar or anyone else.
“So it’s clearly something I want to avoid. It’s been one of my strengths since coming into Formula One, avoiding contact in general and keeping myself in the race.
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“I think one thing we’ve always done well as a team is using and progressing with the framework that we have to allow both of us as drivers to trust each other and the team. That’s a lot of the reason for why we’re a stronger team than everyone else.”
Norris continued by acknowledging the consequences were “not positive”, whilst commending team boss Stella and CEO Zak Brown for fostering a culture where drivers are answerable for their conduct on track and steered towards honest racing.
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He added: “I don’t know what’s happened to all the teams in the past and what Lewis [Hamilton] and [Nico] Rosberg had [at Mercedes], but Andrea’s number one priority is preserving the morale and the framework that we set out.
“I’ve been part of it for many years, but especially over the last couple of years since Andrea stepped into his position of being team principal, and how he wants to preserve the greatness of the team that we have at the minute.”
