Piastri and McLaren’s celebration: Why wasn’t he on the podium?

Piastri’s Absence from McLaren Celebration Sparks Debate

After the Singapore Grand Prix, while McLaren celebrated their constructors’ championship on the podium, social media was ablaze with a notable absence: Oscar Piastri, the drivers’ championship leader. Piastri finished in fourth place, behind his teammate and rival in the drivers’ championship, Lando Norris. A result that mathematically guaranteed McLaren their second consecutive constructors’ title. The race was marked by controversy. Norris overtook Piastri on the first lap, almost sending the Australian driver into the wall. Piastri expressed his frustration with the maneuver.

“That’s not fair. I’m sorry, that’s not fair. If he has to avoid [Verstappen] by crashing into his teammate, it’s a pretty bad job to avoid it”.

Oscar Piastri

The maneuver was crucial, reducing Piastri’s lead in the championship to three points. After the podium ceremony for the top three finishers (George Russell, Max Verstappen, and Norris), an unusual scene unfolded on the podium, with the McLaren team celebrating. As “We Are The Champions” by Queen played, Norris was joined by team principal Andrea Stella, McLaren CEO Zak Brown, and most of the team to celebrate the achievement. The absence of Piastri generated speculation about whether he had chosen not to celebrate with the team. The reality was less dramatic. The procedures that drivers must follow after a Formula 1 race are determined by their final position. The top three finishers must do television interviews immediately after getting out of their cars. Then, they go to the cool-down room before heading to the podium ceremony. There, they receive trophies from the FIA. Victories in the championship are usually recognized at the FIA’s end-of-season gala. Sources confirmed that McLaren didn’t plan much, worried about tempting fate. The team had a mathematical chance to win the title two weeks earlier in Baku. When the race ended, McLaren had already done enough to be champions.

Brown and Stella were interviewed after the top three finishers, before the McLaren team headed to the podium for the celebration. Most of the team members were unaware of the podium plan until after the race. Here’s where the other protocol for the drivers outside the podium comes into play. Drivers who finish outside the top three must go directly to the FIA scales before going to the media area for interviews. As he finished fourth, this applied to Piastri. It’s not uncommon for drivers finishing fourth or below to be doing interviews while the team’s national anthem and the winning driver are playing, showing the overlap between interviews and the podium ceremony. Rules can be rigid. A good example was Lewis Hamilton, who did interviews before meeting with the stewards for a scheduled hearing. Hamilton received a five-second penalty for multiple track limits violations and did not return to the media area afterwards. “I need to see the incident in more detail, honestly,” Piastri said in the written media area about the incident with Norris. “I think once I have the full picture of things, then yes, we will certainly talk about it. I want to see exactly what happened before drawing conclusions.” Piastri joined McLaren for the celebration the team had planned: a photo in the pit lane, with both drivers, their team, and Stella. Another notable absence was CEO Brown, who had already left the circuit to catch his flight out of Singapore. “Work done. See you in Austin,” Brown said. The United States Grand Prix is one of the six remaining races of the 2025 season. Piastri leads Norris by 22 points in the drivers’ championship. Both hope to become McLaren’s first drivers’ champion since 2008.