Norris to Suffer Minimal Consequences After Singapore Crash with Piastri

Zak Brown: “Marginal” consequences for Lando Norris after incident with Piastri

McLaren CEO Zak Brown has stated that the repercussions that Lando Norris will face for his collision with teammate Oscar Piastri in the Singapore Grand Prix are minor and will likely go unnoticed by fans. Before this weekend’s United States Grand Prix, Norris confirmed that he will face “consequences” for the first-lap contact with Piastri in Singapore two weeks ago, but McLaren has declined to provide details.

It’s marginal. It’s consistent with what happened, which was a racing incident at the end of the day, at the start of a Grand Prix with a track that was somewhat damp.

Zak Brown

Brown explained that the penalty is proportionate to the magnitude of Norris’s error, who gained a position on Piastri after the contact, but without causing damage to his teammate’s car. According to Brown, the incident was not intentional and both Norris and Piastri are aware of the situation. McLaren seeks to be transparent with its fans, allowing both drivers to compete for the championship. Piastri currently leads Norris by 22 points in the drivers’ standings, with six races remaining. However, his lead has been reduced by 12 points after Norris finished ahead of him in the last three races. Since the start of the season, McLaren has made it clear that its drivers are free to compete with each other on the track as long as they avoid contact. Brown added that both drivers have always been aware of the possible consequences in the event of a collision and that the situation is not as complicated as it has been portrayed.

We established at the beginning of the year how we want to race and how we want to race among ourselves. The papaya rules, which everyone likes to talk about, are practically a rule, which is not to touch each other and not to go off the track. So it’s pretty simple and has taken on a life of its own.

Zak Brown

Brown also explained that McLaren prefers to keep certain details private so as not to reveal competitive advantages to the other teams. The executive concluded by stating that McLaren strives to be as transparent as possible, although there are aspects of racing that are protected to maintain competitiveness.