Norris Takes Full Responsibility for Sprint Collision with Piastri

Lando Norris has publicly taken full responsibility for his collision with teammate Oscar Piastri during the Sprint race at the Singapore Grand Prix, admitting that he let the McLaren team down.

The two McLaren drivers made contact on the final lap of Saturday’s shortened race while battling for fourth position. Stewards opted not to penalise either driver for the incident.

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella had already described the incident as “not acceptable.” On Saturday, Norris was reluctant to discuss the collision in detail, telling Sky Sports F1, “As a team we all spoke about it. I apologised but that’s all you need to know.”

However, after finishing fourth in Sunday’s Singapore Grand Prix, Norris opened up further to the written media, reflecting deeply on his actions.

“It’s pretty straightforward. I can’t attempt what I did. I should never have attempted in the first place, even if the move was on. I’ve got to think of the team that I represent more than myself,” he stated.

“It was a mistake on my part, and I let down the team. I’ve also apologised to all of them, I owe them all an apology, and I will do better next time.”

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Stella: Conversations with drivers not finished

During Sunday’s race, Norris made multiple radio requests asking if he could assist his teammate Piastri in any way during the closing stages.

At the time of the calls, Piastri was chasing Lewis Hamilton, leading to suggestions that Norris was offering to back up the Ferrari driver to help Piastri. Ultimately, Piastri managed to overtake Hamilton unaided, finishing fifth behind his teammate.

Team principal Stella expressed that he was “very encouraged” by Norris’ cooperative attitude, noting that further discussions will take place before the United States Grand Prix in Austin next weekend.

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“We are aligned on how we want to lead this team forward in a joint effort between the team and the drivers,” he said.

“The conversations we are having are not finished, but not because we need to go back discussing if Lando was alongside Oscar—that is not the interesting part.”

“For me, the interesting part is the reflection that all stakeholders, the team, and the drivers must make about leading the team together, constantly embracing from inside the cockpit the interest of the team as something superior to any particular individual interest.

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“While the conversations from this point of view are not concluded and there is more we can do to become a more united and even stronger team, I am pleased that Lando adopted this way of thinking at some stage during the race.”

“This is what I expect as a team principal, and it is what the 1,000 people who work at McLaren expect from our drivers. It is good to see this example, and I expect definitely more of that in the future, whether it is communicated over the radio, behind closed doors in meetings, or in how we approach our race plan.”

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