Piastri, absent from McLaren’s celebration: Why wasn’t he there?

Piastri’s Absence from McLaren Celebration Sparks Speculation

After the Singapore Grand Prix, while McLaren celebrated their constructors’ championship on the podium, social media was flooded with questions about the absence of Oscar Piastri, leader of the drivers’ championship. Piastri finished in fourth place, behind his teammate and rival in the drivers’ championship, Lando Norris. This result was enough to secure the constructors’ championship for McLaren. 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, that’s a pretty bad job of avoiding.

Oscar Piastri

After the podium ceremony for the top three finishers (George Russell, Max Verstappen, and Norris), the McLaren team stormed the podium to celebrate. “We Are The Champions” by Queen played as Norris, team principal Andrea Stella, and McLaren CEO Zak Brown joined in the celebration. The absence of Piastri generated speculation about whether he had chosen not to celebrate with the team. However, the reality was different. After a Formula 1 race, the drivers follow a protocol determined by their final position. The top three give television interviews and then go to the cool-down room before the podium ceremony. Drivers who finish outside the podium must go to the FIA scales and then to the press zone for interviews. As he finished fourth, Piastri had to follow this protocol. After the race, Piastri stated: “I need to see the incident in more detail, honestly. I think once I have the full picture of things, then yes, we will definitely talk about it. I want to see exactly what happened before drawing conclusions.”

Finally, Piastri joined McLaren for the planned celebration: a photo in the pit lane with both drivers, the team and Stella. Another notable absentee from that photo was CEO Brown, who had already left the circuit. 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 aim to become McLaren’s first champion since 2008.