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The British driver states that "any driver on the starting lineup" would have attempted the maneuver that sparked fresh controversy between Norris and his McLaren teammate the Australian during the Singapore Grand Prix.

The Briton collided with his teammate on the corner exit of the third corner at the Singapore circuit after contact with Max Verstappen's Red Bull sent his car sideways.

The collision threatens to disrupt the carefully maintained team unity that McLaren has successfully preserved between both competitors through thoughtful management.

Before the race, Norris trailed Piastri by 25 points in the championship standings, and reduced that deficit by only three points after finishing third behind winner George Russell and Verstappen, with his teammate close behind in fourth position.

Racing Opinions

Norris insisted he had done nothing wrong in passing Piastri.

"Anyone on the starting lineup would have attempted what I did," he commented. "Should you fault me for taking a big opportunity, you shouldn't be in F1.

"My car was slightly too close to Verstappen, but that's competition. Nothing serious happened, I'm certain I would have finished in front of Piastri anyway because he had the less favorable part of the track on the outer line.

"Naturally I need to analyze it and the last thing I want is collision with my racing partner. I am the one who can't afford any incidents. I would put myself at risk just as much if that occurred.

"I will examine it but the FIA clearly thought it was fine and the McLaren did, too."

Norris denied he had been too forceful with his teammate. "I touched Max," he explained, "so I wasn't forceful with my racing partner."

Team Dynamics

Piastri expressed displeasure about the collision. He said over the in-car communication that the team's decision to do nothing about it was "not fair."

Post-event, he was circumspect, stating he needed to review the incident before making additional statements.

"The primary issue is both vehicles coming together," he commented. "That's never what we want, so I'll examine it in greater detail."

Piastri has previously been the driver to suffer in no fewer than two controversial situations this season.

In Hungary, he was the team's frontrunner early in the race but his teammate was permitted to use a different strategy to beat his partner, a decision that competitors have questioned.

And in Italy, Piastri was instructed to allow his teammate through for second place after the British driver was delayed by a lengthy service. Piastri complained that he thought there had been an agreement that a slow pit stop was just normal competition that had to be tolerated, but acquiesced anyway.

Internally, he was unhappy about that situation, and he and the squad held discussions to address the matter.

But questioned after the Singapore Grand Prix whether he had any concerns that his teammate might be getting favoritism, the Australian responded: "No."

Was he convinced the squad had been fair all season?

"In the end, affirmative," he said. "Might situations have been improved at specific moments? Yes, but finally it's a developmental journey with the whole squad and I'm very happy that the intentions are positive, if that makes sense."

Team Leadership

McLaren boss the Italian said: "We'll have thorough reviews, constructive discussions and, like after Canada, we'll come back stronger and more cohesive."

The team principal explained that although the squad had reviewed the collision in its direct consequence, "the collision is, in reality, a consequence of different circumstances that occurred between Lando and the Red Bull driver."

He continued: "Piastri made some comments while he was in the cockpit but that's the kind of attitude that we want from our competitors. They have to express their views, that's what we ask of them.

"The team's review needs to be extremely thorough, very analytical, it needs to consider the viewpoint of our both competitors, and then we will form a shared understanding upon which we will determine whether we can just confirm our first assessment or there's additional factors that we should conclude.

"Whenever we start our conversations with the drivers, we always remind ourselves, as a foundation: 'This is challenging'.

"Because this is the single area in which, when you race together, actually you cannot maintain identical objectives for the both competitors, because they want to pursue their individual aspirations. This is a foundational principle of the approach we take at the team.

"We must remain precise, because there's much at stake. That's not just the championship points, but it's also the trust of our drivers in the manner we function as a team, and this is, if anything, even more foundational than the points themselves."

Championship Achievement

The controversy deflected attention from the British team securing the team title for the second year running.

It is the team's 10th constructors' title, placing them above their rivals in the historical rankings into second place behind record-holders Ferrari, who have won it on sixteen occasions since the championship's inception in the late fifties.

Their victory represents one of the quickest instances a team has accomplished this. It equals their rival's achievement in securing the title with six races to go in 2023, although that was a 22-race season compared with twenty-four this season.

McLaren's advantage has diminished as the championship enters its concluding phase. That is partly because to the nature of the three most recent circuits not suiting its capabilities, and partly because the team turned off the development program some time ago, while Mercedes and Red Bull still have updates arriving to their cars.

That decision by McLaren was based on the fact that they were experiencing reduced benefits in developing this car, typical when a design has such an edge at the start of a season, and that they wanted to ensure they were ready for next year.

The British driver, however, is fully conscious of the scale of his team's achievement, and the impressive transformation they have shown under their team principal and chief executive officer their leader from just over two years ago, when they started the 2023 season near the rear of the field.

"Another title is a wonderful achievement," Norris said. "Looking at where we were three years ago, we have surpassed every team in terms of development in a time when it is more challenging to do so with increased limitations and reduced testing.

"At a time when it should be harder than ever to dominate, that's precisely what the squad has done and provided us, by a significant margin, the fastest vehicle on the grid.

"It's consistently a very nice thing to mention. It always brings satisfaction on your face. But we've additionally performed very well as a team in terms of competitors, between Piastri and myself {pushing each other