Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri will face no punishment for their collision on the final lap of the Singapore Sprint race. The McLaren drivers were called to the stewards after the incident, but after a long deliberation, it was decided that no further action would be taken against either driver.
At the start of the final lap, Piastri was running fourth, one place ahead of team-mate Norris. The collision happened when Norris attempted a lunge up the inside of turn five, but did not get the move done cleanly. Piastri, caught by surprise, turned into the corner as normal and the two cars collided. Both cars were spun around, though they were able to get going again.
Impact on the race result
Norris was quickest to get back to racing and ended up finishing the Sprint eighth, scoring one point. Piastri finished much further down the order and did not score. It meant McLaren only had that one point to show for their Sprint race, rather than the nine they looked to be on for.
The incident drew criticism from many in the paddock, with Martin Brundle on the live Sky Sports broadcast especially critical of Norris's decision to try to get past Piastri at that point in the Sprint race, telling viewers he felt it was an unnecessary move.
Drivers' explanations
Norris, though, was defiant and told Brundle's Sky colleague Craig Slater: "Of course [the move was on], otherwise I wouldn't have gone for it. It was [on]."
Neither team principal Andrea Stella nor Zak Brown spoke to media on record after the Sprint race, with Ted Kravitz reporting that a request from Sky to speak to one of those two leaders was "politely declined".
Explaining how they came to the conclusion that Norris did not need to be punished, the stewards said: "The driver of Car 81 [Piastri] explained that he had not expected Car 1 [Norris] to attempt an overtake and, after turning in, noticed Car 1 on the inside and attempted to leave space.
"The driver of Car 1 said that he saw an opportunity to overtake. He said that the front axle of his car was ahead of the mirror of Car 81 prior to the apex and therefore expected to be left space. As he approached the apex, the space was less than he had anticipated so he had to use the inside kerb and braked and a collision occurred.
"The stewards considered that both drivers had contributed to the incident and that neither driver was wholly or predominantly to blame for the collision. Therefore, the stewards determined to take no further action."
