For the second season in a row, McLaren stands atop the Formula 1 world.
Their season of dominance reached a crescendo on Sunday in Singapore, where results at the Marina Bay Circuit were enough for the team to clinch their second consecutive Constructors’ title. McLaren entered the Singapore Grand Prix with a commanding lead in the championship race, needing just 13 points from Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris to clinch the title.
They got the points they needed to hoist a trophy. While George Russell drove away from the pack to take the win, a third-place finish from Norris and a fourth-place finish from Piastri were enough to see McLaren through to a championship.
However, the celebrations might be a little awkward in the paddock tonight.
An opening-lap incident between the McLaren teammates — and rivals for the Drivers’ Championship title — saw Norris jump into third ahead of Piastri, but make contact with his teammate and almost force the Australian driver into the wall. Norris charged on, with some damage to his front left end plate, leaving Piastri frustrated behind him.
“Yeah I mean that wasn’t very team like, but sure … ” was one of the first responses from Piastri over the radio.
He did not stop there. Referencing a decision at the Monza Grand Prix to have the drivers swap places after Norris suffered a slow pit stop, Piastri asked for some team orders of his own, asking, “[A]re we cool with Lando just barging me out of the way there?”
When told that no orders would be coming, Piastri replied, “that’s not fair.”
As the race wore on, McLaren inched closer to another title. But the other battle, the one for the Drivers’ title, loomed large over each lap. While Russell drove away from the field, Norris worked the wheel to chase down Max Verstappen in front of him, all while Piastri tried to close in on his teammate and join the fight for second.
Norris drew within DRS range of Verstappen in the closing laps, while the Red Bull driver continued to struggle with the balance on his RB21. On Lap 57 Norris was just a half-second behind Verstappen, with Piastri only three seconds behind his McLaren teammate. Verstappen was also on older tires, making matters even more difficult for the defending Drivers’ champion.
But not difficult enough. Verstappen held on for second, leaving Norris behind him in third, and Piastri in fourth.
As for what the results mean in the Drivers’ Championship race, Piastri heads to Austin for the United States Grand Prix with a 19-point lead over Norris (down from 22 points) and a 63-point lead over Verstappen (down from 69 points ahead of the Singapore Grand Prix).
Speaking after the race with Jenson Button, McLaren CEO Zak Brown praised the team effort.
“Pretty awesome, unbelievable team here,” said Brown. “It’s such a team effort. Pretty awesome to go back-to-back. Been a while since we’ve done it.”
Asked about the Drivers’ Championship, Brown praised both of McLaren’s drivers.
“They’ve driven brilliantly all season. You can’t win the Constructors’ without two awesome racing drivers,” began Brown. “As you can see we’re letting them race. That was a bit more of a nail-biter there. 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.”
“It was a tough race. Max didn’t make any mistakes, whether I was feeling good or not,” said Norris. “Just too difficult to overtake.
“We won as a team, the Constructors’ once again, so I’m most happy about that.”
Asked by Button about the opening-lap incident, Norris described it as “racing.”
“It was slippery, still wet in a lot of places,” began Norris. “But it’s racing. I put it on the inside, I had a small correction, but nothing more than that. But that’s racing.”
With this title down, McLaren can now turn their eyes on securing the Drivers’ Championship for either Piastri or Norris.
With Verstappen lingering in the fight.
