Is Piastri right to be annoyed at Norris and McLaren? Our writers have their say

Oscar Piastri voiced his annoyance at both Lando Norris and McLaren following the clash on the opening lap of the Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix – but were his complaints justified?

The F1 world championship leader was barged by Norris into Turn 3 on the opening lap and wasn’t given sympathy from the McLaren pitwall when he let his feelings know.

Did Piastri have grounds for complaints? Our writers have their say.

No, but Piastri’s reaction could be to make a point to McLaren – Filip Cleeren

Norris’ overtake itself was fair. He made a better start, was fully alongside and hugged the apex, only to drift wide after contact with Max Verstappen’s rear wheel, with the Red Bull slower than expected on the apex. That is a small misjudgement on Norris’ part, but hardly an act of hostility towards Piastri, who just happened to still be on the outside and took a glancing blow from Norris.

So, why was Piastri so upset at the time? We shouldn’t underestimate the adrenaline kicking in behind the wheel, while Piastri also didn’t get a full view of the incident from his limited cockpit perspective. TV replays may have change his mind by now. He may have also been upset at himself for leaving the door ajar for Norris to swoop through.

I have another theory, which is that by suggesting he wanted McLaren to take action, Piastri was making a bit of a statement rather than it being something he genuinely believed in. This is, of course, a direct result of the precedent McLaren set in Monza by ordering Norris through after a botched pitstop. That was a decision Piastri was deeply uncomfortable with and while it has been clarified within the team, it’s still there to be referred to if anything like this happens in the other direction.

Piastri is a shrewd operator, after all. Remember the British GP, when Piastri asked for team orders after what he felt was an unfair time penalty for a safety car infringement, which pitted him behind his team-mate. Piastri said he knew McLaren wouldn’t acquiesce, but “thought I’d ask the question”.

McLaren sees no bones in Norris’ pass in Singapore, which Piastri will have made a note of for when they cross paths again over the remaining six rounds.

Yes, but only with himself – Stuart Codling

If you leave a gap, someone will fill it – whether the gap in question is a reasonable braking distance from the car in front on the M25, or indeed the apex of Turn 3 in Singapore. Nature abhors a vacuum and so do drivers in a hurry.

Both McLaren drivers have reason to be angry but they should direct their ire at themselves rather than at each other or the denizens on the pitwall. When you have the best car on the grid you should be sticking it on the front row, not allowing yourself to be outshone by people who are brilliantly extracting something special from mercurial machinery.

Piastri and Norris left themselves with too much to do after Saturday – Norris more so – and we saw the consequences on Sunday. There’s precious little overtaking in Singapore unless the guy ahead dozes off at the wheel or suffers a mechanical failure. Track position is king and if you’ve coughed it up on Saturday, you have to get it back on Sunday.

Whether you agree with the forcefulness of Norris’s move at Turn 3 or not, it was a case of do it then or don’t do it at all. Piastri allowed it to happen to him.

I much preferred the Piastri who coolly got on with doing a better job than Norris at several earlier rounds this season, earning himself the championship lead, than the one who spent much of the Singapore GP moaning about the rights and wrongs of a lap-one incident. It’s most unbecoming of one who aspires to join the ranks of the all-time greats.

Lando Norris, McLaren, Oscar Piastri, McLaren

Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Sutton Images via Getty Images

No, Piastri is feeling the pressure of the title fight – Oleg Karpov

To be honest, Piastri’s radio complaints in Singapore felt a little out of proportion – a bit like an unhappy customer returning to the checkout counter to rant about wanting 50p back he claims were missing from his last visit. It’s only an assumption, but Sunday’s race at the Marina Bay Street Circuit left the impression that the Australian does indeed feel he was somewhat robbed in Monza, when the team asked him to give the position back to Norris after the Briton’s slow pitstop.

But Norris’s move at Turn 3 in Singapore wasn’t anywhere near as “unfair” as Piastri seemed to imply on the radio. Hard battle – for sure. Close racing – yes. But not more than that. Piastri, after all, left his tyres smoking with late-braking attempts to pass Norris on track this year, in Austria and Hungary. He doesn’t mind racing hard himself, does he? And there’s no way Piastri would risk a crash, given the championship – he’s the one with more to lose from any potential retirement.

It now feels like Piastri is starting to feel the pressure of the title fight – and is losing a touch of his trademark cool. That wasn’t the usual calm Piastri on the radio.

Yet if he does feel he’s being treated unfairly, perhaps it’s time to speak up. He chose to keep his lips sealed after the finish when facing the media – batting away all questions about whether his team-mate gets preferential treatment under the “papaya rules” banner. But in the car he keeps questioning the team’s judgments.

If that’s the case, though, there’s a solution. The outside world has been asking McLaren to lift the “rules” since it became inevitable the team would clinch this year’s constructors’ title. Now that it’s finally sealed, maybe it’s time for Piastri to go to his bosses himself and ask for no more interference.

Yes, from his perspective it was bad, but there’s more at play here – Jake Boxall-Legge

I would challenge anyone to not be irritated by the situation that Piastri found himself in at the start of the Singapore GP. Let’s walk the mile (or, first few hundred metres) in his shoes. He gets a reasonable start, but not one that could surpass either Verstappen or George Russell ahead, and finds the ‘other’ orange car of Norris in his mirrors. At that point, you try to lock down the place and opt for a defensive stance into Turn 3 – but Norris has the better exit and he’s alongside.

Lando Norris, McLaren, Oscar Piastri, McLaren

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / LAT Images via Getty Images

Piastri gives him the space and still gets hit. He doesn’t know that Verstappen has checked up at Turn 3 and Norris has knocked into him first – in his siloed view from the cockpit, he did everything right and still got hit. Of course you’d be annoyed by that. But I’d wager that when he watches it back, he’d reach for a different view. I don’t think it’s wrong for Piastri to be annoyed, but it would be egregious if he continued to have an axe to grind about it.

Now that the constructors’ championship is secure, the kid gloves approach to the title can end – Norris and Piastri should have licence to fight like that at every race. It’s a championship battle, after all; the polemics between right and wrong become increasingly blurred in that situation, and the scuffle in Singapore was one Norris was prepared to have and Piastri wasn’t.

As a neutral observer, it’s fun to notice the narrative shifts. A few races ago, Norris was the soft lad without the killer instinct needed to be champion, while Piastri was the unflappable paragon of steely determination…

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– The Autosport.com Team