Lando Norris declared that anyone who disagrees with his opening-lap move on team-mate Oscar Piastri at the Singapore Grand Prix ‘shouldn’t be in Formula One’. The Brit angered his Australian title rival with an elbows-out pass on the inside of Turn Three at the Marina Bay Street Circuit.
Norris started the race from fifth on the grid with his team-mate in third, but it was the Brit who was running in the final podium spot at the end of lap one. He attempted to hang on the inside of Piastri’s McLaren car, but bumped wheels with the 24-year-old at Turn Three after slight contact with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.
Piastri was furious with his team-mate, demanding that McLaren tell Norris to hand back the position. However, Andrea Stella’s squad reviewed the contact on the pit wall and disagreed with their driver, telling him to get on with the race.
“Anyone on the grid would have done exactly the same thing as I did, so if you fault me for just going on the inside of a big gap, then you should not be in Formula One,” Norris said, explaining his pass.
“There was nothing wrong with what I did. I misjudged a little bit how close I was to Max, but that is racing, and I would have ended up ahead of Oscar anyway. I was on the inside, and the last thing I want to do is to make contact with my team-mate.
“With the position I am in [in the World Championship], I cannot afford to do that compared to him. I put myself at risk if that kind of thing happens. The FIA thought it was fine, and the team did so too.”
Piastri, meanwhile, refused to get dragged into a post-race debate before reviewing the footage, but the Australian was visibly frustrated after climbing out of the cockpit, even as his team celebrated the Constructors’ Championship title.
“I need to look more at the replays and in more detail and come to my conclusion then,” he ruled. “In the moment, it is the first lap, tensions are high, and we are encouraged to share our views on what happened. I did that, and we will discuss it moving forward.”
Piastri now travels to Austin for round 19 of the 2025 campaign with his World Championship lead trimmed to just 22 points. Worse still, the Australian has been beaten by Norris in six of the last eight Grand Prix weekends, marking a momentum shift in the title fight.
