Oscar Piastri has revealed that McLaren’s ‘repercussions’ for Lando Norris in the wake of Formula 1’s Singapore Grand Prix have been removed, as he took “a degree of responsibility” for their United States GP sprint clash.
Norris made contact with Piastri on the first lap at Marina Bay into Turn 3. Upon review, McLaren felt this was avoidable and elected to encumber Norris with what was termed as ‘repercussions’ for the incident – which was understood to be allowing Piastri priority to choose the order of the two cars leaving the pits in qualifying.
However, Piastri was embroiled in a tangle with Nico Hulkenberg at the start of the Austin sprint race, which then put Piastri into the side of Norris to take both McLarens out of the running of the Saturday race.
The championship leader says that some of the responsibility of the clash was his after McLaren’s review, noting the cut-back as he switched location to try to cut inside of Norris – and that the team had flown to Mexico with a “clean slate” as Max Verstappen is now set to challenge both drivers for the 2025 drivers’ title.
“We’ve gone through it again; we go through every weekend regardless of what’s happened,” Piastri said. “I think there is a degree of responsibility from my side in the sprint and we’re starting this weekend with a clean slate for both of us.
“We’re just going out and racing and see who can come out on top. The consequences on Lando’s side have been removed – yes, ultimately, it was [the cut-back] There’s a lot of factors involved, but ultimately, yes, that’s what’s been decided.”
Oscar Piastri, McLaren
Photo by: Andy Hone/ LAT Images via Getty Images
Piastri added that the incoming pressure from Norris and Verstappen in the championship – with Norris 14 points behind, and Verstappen 40 points away – has not changed his approach, but noted that Red Bull had found much greater consistency after “flashes” of strong form earlier this year.
Reviewing his position, the Australian added that it was a “scarily” similar situation to his 2020 Formula 3 title and his Formula Renault title in 2019, in which Victor Martins put Piastri under scrutiny in the final four rounds of the championship – and was just 7.5 points behind at the close of the year.
“Clearly over the last few race weekends, Red Bull and Max have certainly found consistency. There was flashes of that kind of performance earlier in the season, but I think the last few weekends it’s been very consistent,” Piastri said.
“I’m sure that they’re going to be a threat again this weekend and we’ll try our best to get the most out of our car and see where we end up.
“There are some similarities [to my F3 title]. I think ultimately in this championship I feel stronger than I did in that year and some things are a bit different.
“I think it’s also similar to the Formula Renault championship I had – in some ways, scarily similar. I think the good thing I have is the evidence that I can pull it off and won both of those championships. Those are nice things to look back on, definitely.
“I also know that just because I’ve done it before doesn’t mean it’s automatically going to happen this time. It is nice to look back on how I’ve handled those situations in the past, the experience I have now from that, and how I can apply that to this year.”
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