McLaren Teammates Collide in Singapore Sprint as Stella Calls Norris-Piastri Clash 'Unacceptable'

McLaren's Singapore Grand Prix weekend unravelled in a single moment on Saturday when Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri collided on the final lap of the sprint, sending Piastri into the barriers and turning nine points into one.

No reward, only risk

The pair were heading for fourth and fifth places when Norris made a dive down the inside of his team-mate at Turn Five on the final lap — a move with no reward and only risk from a team perspective. It might have made sense earlier in the race, when it could have allowed Norris to challenge a struggling Charles Leclerc for third, but on the last lap Norris was never going to have a go at Leclerc even if he had got through; the only remaining overtaking spot was at the end of the following straight into Turn Seven.

Had the McLaren drivers simply swapped places, it would have made no difference to the team's collective points haul. Instead they came together, pirouetting in tandem. Piastri hit the barriers and was out of the race, while Norris slipped down to eighth.

The stewards took no action, ruling that "both drivers had contributed to the incident".

'No-one's very happy'

Norris admitted his part in the collision. "There are two sides, one is what the stewards say and that's a fair reasoning, no-one's to blame," he said. "But I did apologise because it was still me attacking, as I had the right to do. If I just sat there and was boring like I should be, nothing would have happened. So really it's still my fault but I deserved to go for the space and I still believe I had the right for it."

He added: "As you probably expect, no-one's very happy. I'm not happy, Oscar isn't happy. None of us wanted it to go that way. There was things both of us could have done better and, yeah, we spoke about it and we moved on."

Piastri, for his part, explained in the hearing that he had not expected Norris to attempt a move there, and tried to leave space when he saw him coming. Norris argued that his car was in a position that, according to the rules, entitled him to make an overtaking attempt, so he expected to be left space and had braked and gone over the kerb when he realised he would not get as much as he anticipated.

Stella: team interests must come first

Team principal Andrea Stella is a measured man who chooses his words carefully, but his displeasure was clear. "It was a very long, tiring and challenging day," he said. "Very simply, it is unacceptable that two McLarens ever come together on track. This is a fundamental principle of how we go racing, and something both drivers are very well aware of.

"As always, we discuss these incidents as a team in a constructive and productive way as there is always something to learn and take forward to emerge stronger. These are not conversations we need to have in public, but we have reminded our drivers that the interests of the team must always come first, and that did not happen today."

Stella said he was "disappointed" more than anything, pointing out that this was far from the first conversation he had had with the drivers on the need to put the team's interests first.

"We as a team need to reflect as to how we make sure that these situations do not happen any more," he said. "It is serious. It is serious because the damage for the team is material. We are in a close fight in the championship.

"We had the ambition to challenge Ferrari and this is a problem in the challenge for the second position, and we have an ambition to finish ahead of Red Bull, and this is a problem to finish ahead of Red Bull."

The context for the collision comes after two seasons in which Norris and Piastri have had a number of incidents that created tensions, especially in their title battle last season. Lessons do not appear to have been learned in the way Stella might have expected.

Before the Singapore Grand Prix, McLaren lie third in the constructors' championship, only 11 points ahead of Red Bull, and the team had also been targeting a challenge to Ferrari. Sunday's race, starting at 13:00 BST, now carries added significance for a team that cannot afford to keep throwing away points.