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Lando Norris claims that "every competitor on the starting lineup" would have made the maneuver that caused renewed tension between himself and his McLaren teammate the Australian during the Singapore Grand Prix.

The Briton collided with his teammate on the corner exit of the third corner at Marina Bay after contact with Max Verstappen's Red Bull sent his car sideways.

The collision could potentially undermine the well-managed harmony that the British team has successfully preserved between their two drivers through strategic leadership.

Entering the event, Norris was behind Piastri by a significant margin in the points table, and reduced that gap by only three points after finishing third behind the Mercedes driver and Verstappen, with Piastri close behind in fourth position.

Racing Opinions

Norris insisted he had done nothing wrong in passing his teammate.

"Anyone on the grid would have done what I did," he stated. "If you criticize me for taking a big opportunity, you shouldn't be in F1.

"My car was slightly too close to Verstappen, but that's racing. Nothing serious happened, I'm certain I would have ended up ahead of Oscar anyway because he had the less favorable part of the track on the outside.

"Of course I need to review it and the worst scenario I want is collision with my racing partner. I am the one who can't afford such situations. I would endanger my position just as much if similar things happened.

"I will examine it but the FIA obviously thought it was acceptable and the team did, too."

Norris denied he had been overly aggressive with Piastri. "I touched Max," he explained, "so I wasn't aggressive with my racing partner."

McLaren's Response

The Australian showed unhappiness about the incident. He said over the team radio that the squad's choice to take no action about it was "not fair."

Post-event, he was circumspect, saying he needed to watch the situation before commenting further.

"The main concern is both vehicles coming together," he commented. "That's never what we want, so I'll analyze it in more depth."

The Australian has already been the competitor to suffer in no fewer than multiple debatable incidents this season.

During the Hungarian Grand Prix, he was the leading McLaren driver early in the race but Norris was permitted to use a alternative approach to overtake his teammate, a choice that rival teams have questioned.

During the Italian Grand Prix, the Australian was instructed to allow his teammate through for second place after the British driver was held up by a lengthy service. Piastri complained that he thought there had been an agreement that a delayed service was just part of racing that had to be accepted, but complied anyway.

Behind the scenes, he was unhappy about that circumstance, and he and the squad conducted talks to resolve it.

But questioned after Sunday's race whether he had any concerns that Norris might be receiving preferential treatment, the Australian said: "None."

Did he believe the team had been fair throughout the championship?

"In the end, yes," he said. "Could things have been improved at certain points? Certainly, but ultimately it's a developmental journey with the whole squad and I'm extremely satisfied that the aims are positive, if that makes sense."

Team Leadership

Team principal the Italian commented: "We will conduct thorough reviews, constructive discussions and, similar to post-Canada, we'll return stronger and even more united."

Stella explained that although the team had reviewed the collision in its immediate aftermath, "the collision is, in reality, a result of different circumstances that occurred between Norris and Verstappen."

Stella added: "Piastri made some comments while he was in the cockpit but that's the kind of attitude that we want from our drivers. They have to express their views, that's what we ask of them.

"Our analysis needs to be very detailed, very analytical, it needs to consider the viewpoint of our both competitors, and then we will develop a common opinion based on which we will determine whether we can just confirm our first assessment or there's something else that we should conclude.

"Whenever we begin our discussions with the drivers, we always remind ourselves, as a premise: 'This is difficult'.

"Because this is the single area in which, when you race together, actually you can't have identical objectives for the two drivers, because they seek to achieve their personal goals. This is a foundational principle of the way we race at McLaren.

"We must remain precise, because there's much at risk. That's not only the valuable points, but it's additionally the confidence of our competitors in the manner we function as a squad, and this is, if anything, even more foundational than the championship standings."

McLaren's Success

The incident drew focus from McLaren winning the constructors' championship for the second consecutive year.

It is McLaren's 10th constructors' title, placing them ahead of their rivals in the all-time list into runner-up position behind record-holders Ferrari, who have claimed it on sixteen occasions since the competition began in 1958.

Their victory represents one of the quickest instances a squad has accomplished this. It matches Red Bull's feat in winning with multiple events remaining in 2023, although that was a 22-race season compared with 24 this season.

McLaren's advantage has reduced as the season enters its final stages. That is due in part to the nature of the latest tracks not favoring its capabilities, and partly because the team ceased the upgrade process earlier, while Mercedes and Red Bull still have new parts arriving to their cars.

That decision by the team was based on the reality that they were seeing reduced benefits in improving this car, common when a design has such an advantage at the start of a championship, and that they wanted to make certain they were well prepared for the following season.

Norris, though, is fully conscious of the magnitude of his team's achievement, and the remarkable turnaround they have shown under their team principal and chief executive officer their leader from just over two years ago, when they began the 2023 season near the rear of the field.

"A second championship is a great thing," Norris said. "If you consider where we were three years ago, we have surpassed every team in terms of development in a period when it is harder to do so with more restrictions and less wind tunnel time.

"At a time when it should be harder than ever to dominate, that's exactly what the squad has accomplished and given us, clearly, the best car on the grid.

"That's always a very nice thing to mention. It always brings satisfaction on your expression. But we've additionally performed very well as a squad in terms of drivers, between Piastri and me {pushing each other