News Summary
- Lando Norris confirmed he apologised to Oscar Piastri following their final-lap collision in the Singapore GP sprint.
- The McLaren driver said the team had discussed the incident internally but declined to reveal details of those conversations.
- The FIA decided against penalising either driver, concluding that both contributed to the contact at Turn 5.
Lando Norris has revealed that he apologised to McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri following their collision on the final lap of the Singapore GP sprint, despite the FIA ruling that neither driver was predominantly responsible for the incident.
The Briton made the admission after qualifying fifth for Sunday’s Grand Prix at Marina Bay, where McLaren again struggled to match the pace of Red Bull and Ferrari.
Norris had previously defended his attempt to overtake Piastri during Saturday’s sprint, insisting that he had been entitled to attack the Australian while they were fighting for fourth place.
However, speaking to Sky Sports F1 after Grand Prix qualifying, Norris confirmed that the two drivers and the team had already discussed what happened.
Norris confirms apology after McLaren collision
Asked by Sky Sports F1 reporter Craig Slater whether McLaren had resolved the incident internally, Norris initially gave a brief response.
“No.”
When asked whether the relationship between the two drivers was still okay, the Briton replied:
“Yeah, we’re okay.”
Slater then attempted to establish whether the matter had been settled, prompting Norris to reveal that an internal discussion had taken place.
“No, no, as a team, we all spoke about it. I apologised, but that’s all you need to know.”
The comments followed Norris’ initial defence of the overtaking attempt, when he argued that a sufficiently large gap had been available.
“There was a big opportunity into 5, so I went for it,” Norris said after the sprint.
“I have the right to do that. The rest we review as a team.”
FIA clears both McLaren drivers of predominant blame
The incident occurred on the final lap of the rain-affected Singapore sprint, when Norris attempted to overtake Piastri at Turn 5 while the pair were fighting for fourth.
The McLarens made contact, sending Piastri into a spin and ending his race. Norris continued but dropped to eighth, leaving the team with just one championship point.
Following an investigation, the FIA concluded that both drivers had contributed to the incident and that neither was wholly or predominantly responsible.
The stewards therefore announced “No further action”, allowing Norris to retain his result without a sporting penalty.
GRANDE PRÊMIO published the complete FIA decision, including the explanation of how the cars made contact at the apex.
The collision had significant consequences for the Constructors’ Championship, allowing Red Bull to close to within 11 points of McLaren after Max Verstappen won the sprint.
Norris admits McLaren lacked pace in Singapore qualifying
Norris also acknowledged that McLaren had struggled to extract more performance from its car during Saturday’s Grand Prix qualifying.
The Briton qualified fifth with a 1:31.712, 0.339s behind pole-sitter Verstappen, while Piastri finished sixth, 0.487s off the pace.
Asked whether the third row reflected McLaren’s expectations, Norris admitted that he had hoped the car would improve as qualifying progressed.
“In a way, yeah. I mean, I was kind of hoping to do just a much collab and things come together, but it didn’t really seem to be the case.”
“The more I seemed to push, especially at the end, the slower we just went, so the car was just too much of a handful.”
“So we’re kind of where we just deserve to be and we should be, but otherwise, yeah, just not a lot more we could do.”
The complete Singapore GP qualifying results show Verstappen ahead of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton, with Kimi Antonelli fourth.
Norris and Piastri will start alongside each other on the third row, with the two Ferraris and Verstappen occupying the first three positions.
The updated Singapore GP schedule, including Sunday’s race time is available in GRANDE PRÊMIO, which follows the latest Formula 1 news throughout the Singapore GP weekend.
