The Australian driver labels Norris overtake 'not fair' as George Russell wins the race
Friction between championship competitors Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri escalated significantly as their McLaren team secured the constructors' championship at the Singapore Grand Prix.
Norris slid into Piastri while overtaking at the initial turn at the start of the race, prompting the Australian to claim it was "not fair" the team did not ask them to swap places.
On-track Incident Overshadows Team Celebration
The controversial moment that is likely to cause issues at McLaren came as Norris dived down the inside of Piastri after making a good start from fifth on the grid.
Norris was caught out by Verstappen slowing more than he expected in the apex of Turn Three.
Norris touched the Red Bull, compromising the McLaren's nose section, and that bounced him sideways into Piastri, whose momentum was checked, allowing Norris to move ahead into P3.
Team Radio Show Increasing Friction
Piastri said over the radio: "That wasn't very team-like, but sure."
Moments later, he continued: "Is it acceptable that Lando just pushing me out of the way?"
His engineer replied that the team were "looking at it", before coming back to tell Piastri that they would take "no action" in the race because "Lando had to avoid Verstappen" and that they would "analyze it afterwards".
Championship Implications
- Piastri's points advantage over Norris was cut to 22 points with six races remaining
- Verstappen has also closed in and is 63 adrift of the lead
- McLaren won their back-to-back team championship
Event Overview
George Russell controlled the race at the front on his way to a dominant win, very much in the style of his victory in Canada back in June.
Verstappen chose to start the race on softer compound rather than the mediums on most other cars in the leading group, but the strategy did not prove successful and Russell comfortably maintained the first position at the beginning before building a comfortable lead.
"The track conditions were challenging, but it's racing. I put it on the inside, had a small correction but nothing significant. It was good racing." - Lando Norris
Best of the Rest
Mercedes' rookie Kimi Antonelli took P5, overtaking Ferrari's Charles Leclerc on the fifty-fourth lap as the Ferrari faded, and then defending against Lewis Hamilton in the closing laps.
Fernando Alonso drove an excellent race to take P8 as the top performer outside the leading teams.
The Spanish driver and Racing Bulls' Isack Hadjar engaged in close combat in the first three laps, Alonso overtaking Hadjar into the initial turn to take P8, before the Frenchman got him back later in the lap, only for Alonso to pass again on lap three.
