The Australian driver labels Norris overtake 'not fair' as Russell takes the checkered flag
Friction between championship competitors Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri escalated significantly as their McLaren team clinched the constructors' championship at the Singapore Grand Prix.
Norris made contact with Piastri while passing him at the first corner at the commencement of the race, leading the driver from Australia to state it was "not fair" the team did not ask them to swap places.
Race Drama Mars Constructors' Triumph
The incident that is bound to create issues at McLaren came as Norris moved aggressively the inner line of Piastri after getting away well from P5 on the grid.
Norris was surprised by Verstappen decelerating more than he anticipated in the apex of Turn Three.
Norris touched the Red Bull, compromising the McLaren's front wing endplate, and that bounced him sideways into Piastri, whose momentum was checked, enabling Norris to move ahead into P3.
Driver Communications Show Increasing Friction
Piastri said over the team communication: "That wasn't very team-like, but sure."
Shortly afterwards, he added: "Are we cool with Lando just barging me out of the way?"
His engineer responded that the team were "looking at it", before following up to tell Piastri that they would take "no action" in the race because "Lando had to avoid Verstappen" and that they would "review it afterwards".
Title Race Impact
- Piastri's championship lead over Norris was reduced to twenty-two points with half a dozen events remaining
- Verstappen has also closed in and is 63 adrift of the championship lead
- McLaren won their second consecutive team championship
Race Summary
George Russell dominated the race at the lead on his way to a commanding victory, very much in the manner of his victory in Canada back in June.
Verstappen opted to start the race on soft tyres rather than the medium compound on most other cars in the top 10, but the choice did not pay off and Russell easily held the first position at the start before building a significant advantage.
"The track conditions were challenging, but that's motorsport. I took the inner line, had a minor adjustment but nothing significant. It was good racing." - Lando Norris
Best of the Rest
Mercedes' rookie Kimi Antonelli secured P5, overtaking 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 P8 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 got him back later in the lap, only for Alonso to retake the position on lap three.
