Piastri absent from McLaren celebration: Why didn’t he celebrate the title?

Piastri’s Absence from McLaren Celebration Sparks Rumors

Following the Singapore Grand Prix, McLaren’s celebration of the constructors’ championship on the podium caused a stir on social media, especially due to the notable absence of the drivers’ championship leader, Oscar Piastri. Piastri finished in fourth place, behind his teammate and rival in the drivers’ championship, Lando Norris. This result was enough for McLaren to mathematically secure their second consecutive constructors’ title. The race was marked by controversy for the team. Norris overtook Piastri on the first lap, almost causing the Australian driver to hit the wall at Turn 3. Piastri expressed his frustration with the maneuver.

That’s not fair. I’m sorry, that’s not fair. If you have to avoid Verstappen crashing into your teammate, that’s a pretty bad job of avoiding.

Oscar Piastri

This maneuver was crucial, as Norris reduced 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, with the entire McLaren team invading the podium to celebrate. While “We Are The Champions” by Queen was playing, Norris was accompanied by the team principal, Andrea Stella, the McLaren CEO, Zak Brown, and most of the race team to celebrate the achievement. The absence of Piastri generated speculation about whether he had chosen not to celebrate with the team. However, the reality was less dramatic. Post-race procedures for the drivers are determined by their final position. The top three give television interviews immediately after getting out of their cars, something required by Formula 1 Management (FOM) to offer broadcasters an immediate reaction from the main drivers. Then, they go to the cool-down room, where their conversations and observations about the race are broadcast to the audience. Afterwards, they participate in the traditional podium celebration, which culminates with the famous champagne. There, they receive trophies from the FIA. Normally, championship victories are formally recognized at the FIA’s end-of-season gala, although this is something that Formula 1 owners, Liberty Media, have tried to avoid since taking over the sport in 2018. It was confirmed that the idea of the constructors’ championship was proposed to McLaren over the weekend. McLaren was reluctant to plan too much, worried about tempting fate, as they had also had a mathematical chance of winning the title two weeks earlier in Baku. When the race ended, McLaren had already done enough mathematically to be champions.

Brown and Stella conducted interviews after the top three finishers, before the McLaren race team went up to the podium for the unique celebration. Most team members were unaware of the podium plan until after the race had finished. Here’s where the other protocol for drivers who don’t make the podium is key. Drivers who finish outside the top three must go directly to the FIA scales before heading to the press area for television and written interviews. (Drivers who retire during the race go to the press area while the race is still in progress).

As he finished fourth, this applied to Piastri. It is not uncommon for drivers finishing fourth or lower to be doing interviews while the national anthem of the winning team and driver is playing, demonstrating the overlap that often exists between television and written interviews and the podium ceremony.

The rules can be quite rigid; often, drivers who have to visit the stewards for incidents in the race will go to the press area first, often invalidating what they have told the press. A good example was Lewis Hamilton, who did interviews in the television area before going to see the stewards for a scheduled hearing. Ferrari’s driver was given a five-second penalty for multiple track limits infringements, dropping from seventh to eighth place, and did not return to the press area to give his opinion afterwards, as he was not obliged to do so under the rules.

One of Piastri’s statements about the incident in question highlighted how soon it had occurred after the race. “I need to see the incident in more detail, honestly,” Piastri said in the written press area when asked about the incident with Norris. “I think once I have a complete picture of things, then yes, we will certainly talk about it. I want to see exactly what happened before drawing conclusions”.

It should be noted that Piastri joined McLaren as usual for the celebration the team had planned: a photo in the pit lane, with both drivers, their race team and Stella. Perhaps perfectly encapsulating the fluid nature of the Formula 1 paddock and the logistics surrounding it, there was also another notable absence in that photo: CEO Brown, who had already left the circuit at that moment to catch his flight from Singapore. Brown had walked past the members of the written press waiting to speak with Stella at McLaren’s hospitality center as he headed for the exit, before the photo celebration in the pit lane took place. “Job done,” Brown said with a radiant smile. “See you in Austin.” 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 drivers hope to become McLaren’s first champion since 2008.