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Lando Norris asserts that "every competitor on the grid" would have made the move that sparked renewed tension between himself and his McLaren teammate the Australian during the recent race.

Norris made contact with Piastri on the exit of the third corner at Marina Bay after contact with Max Verstappen's Red Bull caused him to slide.

The collision could potentially disrupt the well-managed team unity that McLaren has managed to maintain between both competitors through thoughtful management.

Entering the event, the British driver was behind his teammate by a significant margin in the points table, and reduced that deficit by only three points after taking the final podium spot behind winner George Russell and Verstappen, with Piastri close behind in P4.

Driver Perspectives

Norris insisted he had done nothing wrong in passing his teammate.

"Anyone on the starting lineup would have done what I did," he stated. "If you criticize me for going for a racing gap, you shouldn't be in Formula 1.

"I was slightly too close to Verstappen, but that's racing. No major incident occurred, I'm confident I would have ended up ahead of Piastri anyway because he had the less favorable part of the track on the outer line.

"Of course I need to analyze it and the worst scenario I want is collision with my teammate. I am the one who must avoid any incidents. I would endanger my position just as much if similar things happened.

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

The driver rejected he had been too forceful with his teammate. "I made contact with Max," he explained, "so I wasn't forceful with my teammate."

McLaren's Response

The Australian showed displeasure about the collision. He said over the in-car communication that the squad's choice to take no action about it was "not fair."

After the race, he was circumspect, stating he needed to review the incident before making additional statements.

"The main concern is two cars coming together," he noted. "It's never what we want, so I'll examine it in greater detail."

The Australian has previously been the competitor to lose out in at least multiple debatable incidents this year.

During the Hungarian Grand Prix, he was the team's frontrunner early in the race but his teammate was permitted to use a different strategy to overtake his teammate, a decision that rival teams have scrutinized.

And in Italy, the Australian was ordered to allow his teammate through for second place after the British driver was delayed by a slow pit stop. He expressed concern that he believed there had been an agreement that a slow pit stop was just normal competition that had to be accepted, but acquiesced regardless.

Internally, he was unhappy about that situation, and he and the squad conducted talks to address the matter.

But when asked after Sunday's race whether he had worries that his teammate might be receiving preferential treatment, the Australian said: "None."

Did he believe the team had been equitable all season?

"In the end, affirmative," Piastri said. "Could things have been better at certain points? Certainly, but ultimately it's a developmental journey with the whole squad and I'm very satisfied that the aims are very well meaning, if that makes sense."

Management Perspective

McLaren boss the Italian commented: "We'll have detailed analyses, productive conversations and, similar to post-Canada, we'll come back more resilient and more cohesive."

The team principal explained that although the squad had reviewed the incident in its direct consequence, "the collision is, in reality, a result of another racing situation that occurred between Norris and Verstappen."

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

"Our analysis needs to be extremely thorough, very analytical, it needs to consider the perspective of our both competitors, and then we will develop a common opinion upon which we will determine whether we can just confirm our first assessment or there's additional factors that we should conclude.

"Every time we begin our conversations with the drivers, we always recall, as a premise: 'This is challenging'.

"Because this is the single area in which, when you compete as teammates, actually you cannot maintain identical objectives for the two drivers, because they seek to achieve their individual aspirations. This is a core concept of the approach we take at the team.

"We need to be precise, because there's a lot at risk. That's not just the valuable points, but it's also the trust of our competitors in the way we operate as a team, and this is, perhaps, even more foundational than the points themselves."

Championship Achievement

The incident drew focus from McLaren securing the constructors' championship for the second consecutive year.

It is McLaren's 10th constructors' title, moving them ahead of Williams in the historical rankings into second place after record-holders the Italian team, who have claimed it 16 times since the competition began in 1958.

Their victory represents one of the quickest instances a squad has done this. It matches Red Bull's feat in winning with six races to go in last season, although that was a shorter championship compared with twenty-four this year.

The team's lead has diminished as the season enters its concluding phase. That is partly because to the nature of the three most recent circuits not suiting its strengths, and partly because McLaren turned off the upgrade process earlier, while Mercedes and Red Bull still have updates arriving to their vehicles.

That decision by McLaren was based on the reality that they were seeing reduced benefits in developing this car, typical when a concept has such an advantage at the start of a championship, and that they wanted to make certain they were ready for the following season.

Norris, however, is well aware of the magnitude of his team's achievement, and the impressive transformation they have shown under their team principal and CEO Zak Brown from just over two years ago, when they started the previous championship close to the back of the grid.

"Another title is a great thing," Norris commented. "If you consider where we were three years ago, we have surpassed every squad in terms of progress in a time when it is harder to achieve with more restrictions and reduced testing.

"In an era when it should be harder than before to dominate, that's exactly what the squad has accomplished and provided us, clearly, the fastest vehicle on the grid.

"That's always a very nice thing to mention. It always brings satisfaction on your face. But we've additionally excelled as a team in terms of drivers, between Oscar and me {pushing each other