Piastri calls Norris move 'unjust' as Russell takes the checkered flag
Tensions between championship competitors Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri escalated significantly as their racing outfit clinched 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 driver from Australia to claim it was "unjust" the team did not instruct them to swap places.
Race Drama Mars Constructors' Triumph
The incident that is bound to create problems at McLaren occurred when Norris moved aggressively the inside of Piastri after making a good start from P5 on the grid.
Norris was surprised by Verstappen decelerating more than he expected in the middle of Turn Three.
Norris made contact with the Red Bull, damaging the McLaren's nose section, and that caused him to deflect side-on into Piastri, whose pace was checked, allowing Norris to move ahead into third place.
Team Radio Reveal Increasing Friction
Piastri said over the radio: "That didn't feel like teamwork, but sure."
Moments later, he added: "Are we cool with Lando just barging me out of the way?"
His engineer replied 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 "analyze it afterwards".
Championship Implications
- Piastri's points advantage over Norris was cut to twenty-two points with six races remaining
- Verstappen has also gained ground and is 63 adrift of the championship lead
- McLaren won their second consecutive constructors' title
Event Overview
George Russell controlled the race at the front on his way to a dominant win, very much in the manner of his triumph 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 strategy did not prove successful and Russell easily held the first position at the beginning before building a significant advantage.
"It was slippery, but it's racing. I took the inner line, had a small correction but nothing more than that. It was good racing." - Lando Norris
Midfield Battle
Mercedes' rookie Kimi Antonelli secured fifth place, overtaking Ferrari's Charles Leclerc on the fifty-fourth lap as the Ferrari lost performance, and then holding off Lewis Hamilton in the final stages.
Fernando Alonso delivered a strong performance to take eighth as the best midfield runner.
The Spanish driver and Racing Bulls' Isack Hadjar fought a brief battle in the first three laps, Alonso passing Hadjar into the initial turn to take eighth, before the Frenchman got him back later in the lap, only for Alonso to pass again on lap three.
