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Lando Norris states that "every competitor on the starting lineup" would have made the maneuver that caused fresh controversy between himself and fellow driver Oscar Piastri during the recent race.

Norris made contact with Piastri on the exit of turn three at the Singapore circuit after a bump with Max Verstappen's Red Bull sent his car sideways.

This incident could potentially disrupt the well-managed harmony that the British team has managed to maintain between both competitors through thoughtful management.

Before the race, Norris was behind his teammate by a significant margin in the championship standings, and narrowed that deficit by only three points after taking the final podium spot behind the Mercedes driver and the Red Bull star, with Piastri following in fourth position.

Driver Perspectives

The Briton maintained he had acted appropriately in overtaking Piastri.

"Every driver on the grid would have done what I did," he commented. "Should you fault me for going for a big opportunity, you don't belong in F1.

"I was a bit too close to Max, but that's competition. No major incident occurred, I'm certain I would have finished in front of Piastri regardless because he had the less favorable part of the track on the outside.

"Of course I need to review it and the last thing I want is contact with my racing partner. I am the one who can't afford any incidents. I would endanger my position just as much if that occurred.

"I will examine it but the governing body clearly thought it was fine and the team did, too."

The driver rejected he had been overly aggressive with Piastri. "I made contact with Max," he explained, "meaning I wasn't forceful with my racing partner."

McLaren's Response

The Australian showed unhappiness about the collision. He said over the team radio that the squad's choice to do nothing about it was "not fair."

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

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

Piastri has already been the competitor to lose out in no fewer than two controversial situations this season.

In Hungary, he was the team's frontrunner initially but his teammate was allowed to use a different strategy to overtake his partner, a choice that rival teams have scrutinized.

During the Italian Grand Prix, Piastri was instructed to let Norris back past 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 part of racing that had to be tolerated, but acquiesced anyway.

Internally, he was not pleased about that situation, and he and the team conducted talks to resolve it.

But when asked after the Singapore Grand Prix whether he had any concerns that his teammate might be receiving preferential treatment, Piastri responded: "No."

Did he believe the squad had been equitable throughout the championship?

"In the end, yes," he stated. "Might situations have been better at specific moments? Certainly, but finally it's a learning process with the whole squad and I'm very satisfied that the intentions are positive, if that is understandable."

Management Perspective

McLaren boss Andrea Stella said: "We'll have detailed analyses, constructive discussions and, like after Canada, we'll return stronger and even more united."

Stella explained that although the team had analyzed the incident in its direct consequence, "the collision is, actually, a consequence of different circumstances that happened between Lando and the Red Bull driver."

Stella added: "Piastri made some statements while he was in the car but that's the type of character that we want from our competitors. They have to make their position clear, that's what we require of them.

"The team's review needs to be extremely thorough, very analytical, it needs to consider the perspective 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.

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

"Since this is the only matter in which, when you compete as teammates, actually you can't have exactly the same interest for the both competitors, because they want to pursue their personal goals. This is a foundational principle of the way we race at McLaren.

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

McLaren's Success

The controversy deflected attention from McLaren winning the team title 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 leaders Ferrari, who have claimed it on sixteen occasions since the championship's inception in 1958.

Their victory represents one of the quickest instances a squad has done this. It equals their rival's achievement in winning with multiple events remaining in last season, although that was a 22-race season compared with twenty-four this season.

McLaren's advantage has reduced as the season heads into its concluding phase. That is partly because to the characteristics of the three most recent circuits not favoring its capabilities, and also because the team ceased the development program some time ago, while their rivals still have updates arriving to their vehicles.

This choice by McLaren was rooted in the fact that they were seeing reduced benefits in developing this vehicle, typical when a concept has such an edge at the start of a season, and that they wanted to make certain they were ready for next year.

The British driver, though, is well aware of the magnitude of his team's achievement, and the remarkable turnaround they have shown under their team principal and chief executive officer their leader from just over two years ago, when they began the previous championship near the rear of the grid.

"Another title is a wonderful achievement," Norris said. "Looking at where we were previously, we have outperformed 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 ever to excel, that's precisely what the team has done and provided us, clearly, the fastest vehicle on the grid.

"That's always a pleasing aspect to say. It always brings satisfaction on your expression. But we've additionally performed very well as a squad in terms of drivers, between Oscar and me {pushing each other