The Australian driver labels Norris move 'not fair' as Russell wins the race
Tensions between championship competitors Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri escalated significantly as their racing outfit clinched the constructors' championship at the Singapore Grand Prix.
Norris slid into Piastri while overtaking at the first corner at the commencement of the race, leading the Australian to claim it was "unjust" the team did not instruct them to reverse positions.
On-track Incident Overshadows Team Celebration
The controversial moment that is likely to cause problems at McLaren came as Norris dived down the inside of Piastri after getting away well from fifth on the grid.
Norris was surprised by Verstappen decelerating more than he anticipated in the middle of Turn Three.
Norris touched the Red Bull, damaging the McLaren's front wing endplate, and that bounced him sideways into Piastri, whose momentum was disrupted, allowing Norris to move ahead into P3.
Team Radio Show Increasing Friction
Piastri said over the radio: "That didn't feel like teamwork, but sure."
Moments later, he added: "Is it acceptable that Lando just pushing me out of the way?"
His engineer responded that the team were "reviewing the situation", before coming back to tell Piastri that they would take "no action" in the race because "Norris needed to evade Verstappen" and that they would "analyze it afterwards".
Championship Implications
- Piastri's points advantage over Norris was cut to twenty-two points with half a dozen events remaining
- Verstappen has also closed in and is sixty-three points behind of the lead
- McLaren won their second consecutive constructors' title
Race Summary
George Russell controlled the race at the lead on his way to a commanding victory, very much in the manner of his triumph in Canada back in June.
Verstappen chose to start the race on soft tyres rather than the medium compound on most other cars in the leading group, but the choice did not pay off and Russell comfortably maintained the lead at the start before stretching out a comfortable lead.
"It was slippery, but it's racing. I took the inner line, had a minor adjustment but nothing significant. It was hard but fair competition." - Lando Norris
Best of the Rest
Mercedes' newcomer Kimi Antonelli secured P5, passing Ferrari's Charles Leclerc on lap 54 as the Ferrari lost performance, and then defending against Lewis Hamilton in the closing laps.
Fernando Alonso delivered a strong performance to take eighth as the top performer outside the leading teams.
The Spaniard and Racing Bulls' Isack Hadjar fought a brief battle in the opening stages, Alonso overtaking Hadjar into the first corner to take eighth, before the Frenchman regained the position later in the lap, only for Alonso to retake the position on lap three.
