🔗 Share this article Norris Rebuffs Piastri's Grievances About Singapore GP Overtaking Move The McLaren driver presented an uncompromising reply toward the objections of his teammate Oscar Piastri following their clash at the Singapore GP, declaring that any driver that would not attempt an identical overtake does not deserve to race in F1. On-Track Clash Triggers Internal Conflict The race at the Marina Bay street circuit was won for Mercedes George Russell, but was defined due to the incident in the opening corners, when Norris went after Piastri and made contact with his teammate after he had nudged the car driven by Verstappen in front. Any driver in F1 would have done a similar move that I did, so if you fault me for simply going on the inside of an opening then you should not compete in Formula One,” he declared. It was acceptable with my move.” Championship Battle Heats Up Norris and Piastri are in a head-to-head contest for the drivers’ world championship, with the team having secured the constructors' title in Singapore. Both drivers ended up in third and fourth places, as Norris reduced the gap to Piastri to 22 points with six meetings left. The Australian driver was angry at the time, decrying it as unfair that the team would not intervene to make Norris return the place since he believed he had forced him out of the way. However, race officials issued no penalty. Norris's Defense I underestimated slightly the proximity I was near Max, however that's part of racing and I would have come out ahead of Oscar anyway,” stated Norris. “I was on the inside so the last thing I wanted I intended to do is to make contact with my teammate. With the [championship] position I'm in, I can't risk making contact as opposed to him. Race officials considered it fine and McLaren agreed.” Piastri's Response Oscar Piastri commented he wouldn't judge yet till the team conducted a debriefing. “I need to look more at the replays and in more detail and reach my judgment then,” he said. This was the first lap, pressure is intense so we are encouraged to express our perspectives on what happened. I did that and we'll talk about it moving forward.” McLaren Boss's Perspective McLaren's boss Stella also maintained the team would evaluate their method in dealing with both drivers. We must place the situation into context. These are the remarks from a driver in a Formula One car, there's the intensity of the race. The information that is available is only his perspective. As always we will have a productive talk, learn from it and improve.”