Laurence EdmondsonOct 5, 2025, 03:50 PM ETClose• Joined ESPN in 2009 • An FIA accredited F1 journalist since 2011
play1:06McLaren win back-to-back Constructors’ titles in SingaporeTake a look at the numbers behind McLaren’s 10th Constructors’ Championship after George Russell winning the Singapore Grand Prix.
Norris overtakes Piastri in opening lap at the Singapore GP (0:32)Lando Norris moves up to third place after starting in fifth, ahead of his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri at the Singapore Grand Prix. (0:32)
McLaren win back-to-back Constructors’ titles in SingaporeTake a look at the numbers behind McLaren’s 10th Constructors’ Championship after George Russell winning the Singapore Grand Prix.
Take a look at the numbers behind McLaren’s 10th Constructors’ Championship after George Russell winning the Singapore Grand Prix.
From fifth on the grid, Norris made a good getaway and went aggressive at the start, passing Kimi Antonelli away from his grid spot and launching his McLaren to the inside of his teammate in Turn 1. Piastri left enough space for Norris to draw alongside through Turn 2, but Norris would always be in a closing gap as the pair approached Turn 3 with Max Verstappen ahead.
Stallard: “No further action from the stewards. As a team, we can see Lando had to avoid Verstappen, so we won’t take any action during the race. We can review further afterwards.”
Piastri: “Yeah, but if he has to avoid another car by crashing into his teammate, that’s a pretty s— job of avoiding.”
“I need to look more at the replays to know exactly what happened,” Piastri said after the race. “I think the main thing is the two cars coming together is never what we want. I’ll go and have a look at it in more detail and come to my conclusion then.”
For Norris, who has regularly faced criticism for not being aggressive enough on the opening lap of races, the space on the inside of Piastri was always going to invite a move into Turn 3.
“Anyone on the grid would have done exactly the same thing as I did,” he said. “So I think if you fault me for just going on the inside and putting my car on the inside of a big gap, then, yeah, I think you shouldn’t be in Formula 1.
“So, you know, I don’t think there was anything wrong that I did. Of course, I misjudged a little bit how close I was to Max, but that’s racing. Nothing happened otherwise, and I’m sure I still would have ended up ahead of Oscar anyway because I was on the inside and he would have had the dirty side of the track on the outside. So, I need to go review it, of course. I need to look at things and see if there was something I could have done better.
Following this year’s Italian Grand Prix, in which Piastri was told to give a position back to Norris following a botched pit-stop sequence, it’s also clear that McLaren’s pit wall is willing to intervene if it feels a driver has gained a position in a way that is not considered fair. It stands to reason, therefore, that if Norris had unfairly gained a position by colliding with Piastri, it could have asked its drivers to switch places.
McLaren win back-to-back Constructors’ titles in Singapore
Stella said he fully understood the frustration demonstrated by Piastri over team radio, but reiterated that McLaren has asked its drivers to vent openly on team radio rather than race on with pent-up frustration.
“Obviously, Oscar made some statements while he was in the car,” Stella said. “But that’s the kind of character that we want to have from our drivers — they have to make their position very clear. That’s what we ask them.
The importance of those conversations ahead of the next round in Austin, Texas, cannot be understated. With six races remaining in the championship, Piastri now leads Norris by 22 points, while Verstappen, who finished in second place ahead of both McLarens, has closed the gap behind Piastri to 63 points.
If those gaps continue to close — as they have done in the past three races — the internal pressure at McLaren will only ramp up. That threatens to put increased strain on the team’s racing rules, which also have to take into account a growing list of precedents and controversies.
Stella is fully aware of the pressure his team is under and the importance of going into each race weekend with all parties on the same page.
“Every time we start our conversations with the drivers, we always remind ourselves, as a premise, this is hard,” he said. “Because this is the only matter in which, when you race together as a team, you can’t have exactly the same interest for the two drivers, because they want to pursue their aspiration, and this is a foundational principle of the way we are racing at McLaren.
“We want to protect this ‘let them race’ concept. We know that as soon as you adopt this concept, you face difficulties, and we remind ourselves, but it’s within this awareness, self-consciousness, in a way, that then we develop our conversation.
But with all the goodwill in the world, rules of engagement between two drivers can only do so much. In 50/50 situations, each individual will interpret those rules to suit their own interests and argue the point later. Too much is on the line to do otherwise.
Norris overtakes Piastri in opening lap at the Singapore GP (0:32)Lando Norris moves up to third place after starting in fifth, ahead of his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri at the Singapore Grand Prix. (0:32)
Lando Norris moves up to third place after starting in fifth, ahead of his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri at the Singapore Grand Prix. (0:32)
Piastri: “Are we cool with Lando barging me out of the way, or … what’s the go there?”
Stallard: “Oscar, we are looking at it. Let me get back to you.”
Stallard: “I need you to focus on what we can do here. Control the controllables, mate.”
Stallard: “Oscar, opportunity to review together. Focus on this race, mate.”
It will only get tougher for McLaren to adjudicate from here.
Close• Joined ESPN in 2009 • An FIA accredited F1 journalist since 2011
Piastri: “That’s not fair. Sorry, that’s not fair.”