Sunday’s Singapore Grand Prix may finally give Formula 1 fans what they have been waiting to see all season: The much-maligned “Papaya Rules” called off, and a true title fight between Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris.
For months, as the two McLaren drivers have battled on the track and at the top of the standings, the Constructors’ Championship remained the clear focus. After the Italian Grand Prix — more on that in a moment — both Piastri and Norris highlighted the priority in Woking.
“We’ve said many times that we don’t want the chance of success just for this year,” began Piastri after the Italian Grand Prix. “There’s a big regulation change next year – we don’t know how competitive we’re going to be, and we don’t know how competitive anyone’s going to be.
“Ultimately, we want the best chance at winning championships for as long as we’re Formula 1 drivers, and we’re both at McLaren for a very long time. Protecting the people around us that give us this opportunity is a very important thing,” continued the Australian driver. “It’s easy enough to put yourself second at times like that. If we were fighting very closely for the whole race, then it’s slightly different, but Lando was ahead by a few seconds the whole race, so there’s no concern for me with that.
“Again, we don’t just want this year to fight for a championship; we want it for as long as possible. Protecting the people, that includes the people doing the pit stops. It’s not a very nice feeling, I would imagine. It’s important to protect all the people that we have because that’s what gives us a championship hope for years to come.”
“The team is the priority. The team is number one, then the drivers are second. That’s how it works. Normally, when you see teams who don’t have enough respect for the team and the opportunities the team gives, it doesn’t normally last long,” added Norris. “You see that with plenty of other teams, whether it’s been Red Bull, Ferrari, or Mercedes.
“We want to try and be in this position for a longer period of time than what they have been at the top. Still early days – it’s only our second year of fighting for wins. But like Oscar said, the team gives us these opportunities. Without the team, then we’re just fighting for tenth, and none of us want that. So team and the morale, the spirit of the team, is priority, and we’re below that.”
Sunday night at the Marina Bay Circuit, McLaren got the result they needed to clinch their second consecutive Constructors’ Championship. With Piastri starting third and Norris starting fifth, they were in a good position to secure the 13 points they needed to wrap up the title. They got more than that, however, as Norris came across the line third and Piastri just behind him in fourth.
How they got there, however, has many wondering if their fight for the Drivers’ Championship will take a turn, now that the Constructors’ title is done and dusted.
Norris got a great launch off the line and immediately overtook Andrea Kimi Antonelli for fourth, putting pressure on Max Verstappen in front of him as he pulled alongside Piastri. At Turn 3, Norris brushed the back of Verstappen’s RB21, and as he moved to the right to avoid a bigger incident, he nudged Piastri out wide, and nearly forced his teammate into the wall.
Almost immediately, Piastri was on the radio, inquiring whether the team was ok with Norris “barging” into him like that. When he was informed that race stewards were not going to take any further action, Piastri suggested that the team should have the drivers swap positions.
Bringing into focus the precedent set back at the Italian Grand Prix.
In that race, Norris was running ahead of Piastri when McLaren called the Australian driver into the pits to cover off an earlier stop from Charles Leclerc. McLaren then called Norris into the pits, but a slow stop saw him exit pit lane and rejoin the fight behind his teammate.
In the interests of keeping things fair between the drivers, McLaren issued the order for Piastri to give the place back to Norris.
And give points back to the driver closest to him in the Drivers’ Championship race.
While those of us on the outside worried about the precedent that was being set — and where that could lead for the team — Team Principal Andrea Stella called it a matter of “consistency with our principles” following the Italian Grand Prix.
“The pit stop situation is not only a matter of fairness, it’s a matter of consistency with our principles,” Stella said. “And however the championship goes, what’s important is that the championship runs within the principles and the racing values that we have at McLaren, and that we have created together with our drivers.
”The fact that we went first with Oscar, compounded by the slow pit stop of Lando, then led to a swap of positions. And we thought it was absolutely the right thing to go back to the situation pre-existing the pit stop, and then let the guys race.
“This is what we did, and this is what we think is in compliance with our principles.”
But returning to Singapore, when Piastri was informed that a similar order would not be coming, he questioned the fairness.
“That’s not fair. I’m sorry, that’s not fair,” said Piastri. “If he has to avoid another car by crashing into his teammate, then that’s a pretty **** job of avoiding.”
The order never came, and the racing continued. While Norris could not manage to make up further spots on the track and settled for third behind George Russell and Verstappen, he still finished ahead of Piastri, and clawed three points closer to his teammate with six races — and three F1 Sprint races — left on the schedule.
After the race, and with the Constructors’ Championship in hand, McLaren did their best to downplay the incident.
“They’ve driven brilliantly all season. You can’t win the Constructors’ without two awesome racing drivers. As you can see, we’re letting them race. That was a bit more of a nail-biter there, but they race hard, they race clean, they race to win. So, a lot of racing to go and hopefully some more victories for both of them,” said McLaren CEO Zak Brown trackside after the race.
“I’ve still not even seen it. I still need to go in and see it. I might look at it and think there’s something else I could have done or done better,” said Norris in the FIA Press Conference. “Anyone on the grid would have done exactly the same thing as I did. So I think if you fault me for just going on the inside and putting my car on the inside of a big gap, then, yeah, I think you shouldn’t be in Formula 1. So, you know, I don’t think there was anything wrong that I did.
”Of course, I misjudged a little bit how close I was to Max, but that’s racing. Nothing happened otherwise, and I’m sure I still would have ended up ahead of Oscar anyway because I was on the inside and he would have had the dirty side of the track on the outside. So, I need to go review it, of course. I need to look at things and see if there was something I could have done better. The last thing I want is to make contact with my teammate, especially because all I get is questions from you guys.
“So, you know, I’m the one that can’t afford anything compared to him. I would put myself at risk just as much if that kind of thing happens. So, yeah, I’ll see what I can do with it next time. But the FIA obviously thought it was fine, and the team did too. So, that’s it.”
“First of all we have to put everything into perspective. It’s comments from a driver in an F1 car, there’s the heat of the moment,” Stella said to Sky Sports F1 regarding Piastri’s comments.
”The information that is available is just his point of view and this is Lando moving on to him.
“I think as usual we have good conversations, we will build from there and come back stronger. This has been the whole process as we said before on building together a strong team which the drivers are a great foundational part.”
Piastri, however, was more muted in his post-race assessment.
“Obviously a difficult race, a difficult first lap. I’ve not seen the replay. I just know from in the car, so I’ll go and have a look,” he said to Sky Sports F1.
“It’s obviously a great night for the whole team. Obviously not the race I was looking for, but for the whole team, tonight is the culmination of a lot of hard work from not just this year, but lots of years. It’s a really proud moment for me to be a part of that and a proud moment for the whole team.”
Asked by Sky Sports F1 whether he believes that he and Norris still race “cleanly”, Piastri replied: “Yes, I think we do. I don’t think there was any intention of contact, but there was, and I need to look at the replay and see what exactly happened.”
As for what happens next, McLaren certainly wants one of their two drivers to secure the Drivers’ Championship. With Piastri still leading the way and Norris 19 points behind him, they remain the two leading contenders.
Yet lurking behind them is Verstappen, 63 points behind Piastri and just 41 points behind Norris. With some tracks coming up that could be fertile ground for Verstappen, such as Las Vegas — where he clinched his fourth title a season ago — he cannot be counted out.
Still, Piastri and Norris remain the two at the top.
With the Constructors’ title in hand, McLaren can now let their drivers race without fear of losing a grip on that championship, and without seemingly putting a thumb on the scale.
The problem, however, might be the history. Norris being asked to swap places in Hungary last season. Piastri being asked to do the same in Monza. By intervening in those situations, McLaren seemed to put a thumb on those same scales.
And by not intervening on Sunday in Singapore, it again seemed as if those scales were being influenced.
McLaren’s quest to keep things fair between two drivers fighting for a world title, while still seeking the Constructors’ Championship, is honorable.
They have secured the one title.
Now it is time to let their drivers, and the racing gods, determine the other.
