The Australian driver labels Norris overtake 'unjust' as Russell takes the checkered flag
Friction between championship competitors Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri escalated significantly as their racing outfit secured the team title at the Singapore Grand Prix.
Norris slid into Piastri while overtaking at the first corner at the start of the race, prompting the Australian to state it was "unjust" the team did not ask them to swap places.
Race Drama Mars Team Celebration
The controversial moment that is bound to create issues at McLaren came as Norris moved aggressively the inside of Piastri after getting away well from fifth on the grid.
Norris was caught out 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 caused him to deflect side-on into Piastri, whose pace was checked, allowing Norris to move ahead into third place.
Team Radio Show Growing Tension
Piastri said over the radio: "That wasn't very team-like, but sure."
Shortly afterwards, he added: "Is it acceptable that Lando just pushing 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 immediate measures" in the race because "Lando had to avoid Verstappen" and that they would "review it afterwards".
Championship Implications
- Piastri's championship lead over Norris was reduced to 22 points with half a dozen events remaining
- Verstappen has also gained ground and is sixty-three points behind of the lead
- McLaren secured their back-to-back team championship
Race Summary
George Russell dominated the race at the lead on his way to a dominant win, very much in the style of his victory in Canada back in June.
Verstappen opted to start the race on softer compound 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 lead at the beginning before stretching out a significant advantage.
"The track conditions were challenging, but it's racing. I put it on the inside, had a minor adjustment but nothing significant. It was good racing." - Lando Norris
Best of the Rest
Mercedes' newcomer Kimi Antonelli secured fifth place, passing Ferrari's Charles Leclerc on lap 54 as the Ferrari lost performance, and then holding off Lewis Hamilton in the closing laps.
Fernando Alonso drove an excellent race to take eighth as the top performer outside the leading teams.
The Spanish driver and Racing Bulls' Isack Hadjar fought a brief battle in the opening stages, Alonso passing Hadjar into the initial turn to take eighth, before the Frenchman got him back later in the lap, only for Alonso to retake the position on the third circuit.
