Team orders at McLaren? Are Norris and Piastri still allowed to battle it out?

The fact that the two McLaren drivers clashed during the Singapore Sprint remained a major talking point within the Papaya team even after the weekend in the city-state. This was because the crash occurred following a failed attempt by Norris to overtake his team-mate, who had been running in fourth place ahead of him.

The overambitious manoeuvre cost the Woking-based team eight valuable points, which McLaren could have done with in the tight battle for third place in the constructors’ championship against Red Bull Racing. Instead, they had to make do with a single point, which Norris salvaged by finishing eighth. Piastri failed to cross the finish line and was classified last in 14th place.

No team orders at McLaren

Consequently, there was a great deal of internal discussion about the unfortunate collision on the final lap of the sprint race, and Norris revealed in Austin what consequences the crash had entailed. He explained: “I’ve had plenty of telling-offs, and plenty has been said about it. But we’re still allowed to keep battling each other. Of course, what happened last weekend – or what happened here last year – mustn’t be repeated.”

As we recall, last year the two team-mates clashed in the very first corner of the Sprint. “So, no, we’re still allowed to race against each other, but of course there must be no collisions – that has to be avoided at all costs,” the world champion emphasised.

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