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The British driver states that "any driver on the starting lineup" would have attempted the maneuver that caused renewed tension between Norris and his McLaren teammate the Australian during the Singapore Grand Prix.

Norris made contact with Piastri on the corner exit of turn three at Marina Bay after contact with Max Verstappen's Red Bull sent his car sideways.

This incident threatens to disrupt the carefully maintained team unity that the British team has successfully preserved between both competitors through thoughtful management.

Before the race, Norris was behind Piastri by 25 points in the championship standings, and narrowed that deficit by only a small amount after finishing third behind the Mercedes driver and Verstappen, with Piastri close behind in fourth position.

Racing Opinions

The Briton maintained he had done nothing wrong in overtaking 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 don't belong in F1.

"My car was slightly too close to Max, but that's competition. No major incident occurred, I'm certain I would have ended up ahead of Oscar regardless because he had the dirty part of the track on the outer line.

"Of course I need to review it and the worst scenario I want is contact with my racing partner. I am the one who must avoid such situations. I would put myself at risk just as much if that occurred.

"I'll review it but the FIA clearly thought it was acceptable and the team did, as well."

Norris denied he had been overly aggressive with Piastri. "I touched Max," he said, "meaning I wasn't forceful with my teammate."

Team Dynamics

Piastri expressed displeasure about the collision. He said over the in-car communication that the team's decision to do nothing about it was "unjust."

After the race, he was more measured, stating he needed to watch the incident before making additional statements.

"The main concern is both vehicles coming together," he noted. "That's never what we want, so I'll analyze it in more depth."

The Australian has already been the competitor to suffer in no fewer than multiple debatable incidents this season.

In Hungary, he was the leading McLaren driver initially but Norris was allowed to use a alternative approach to beat his partner, a choice that rival teams have questioned.

And in Italy, Piastri was instructed to allow his teammate through for second place after the Briton was delayed by a slow pit stop. He expressed concern that he believed there had been an agreement that a delayed service was just part of racing that had to be tolerated, but acquiesced anyway.

Behind the scenes, he was unhappy about that situation, and he and the squad held discussions to resolve it.

But questioned after Sunday's race whether he had any concerns that his teammate might be getting favoritism, Piastri said: "None."

Did he believe the team had been equitable all season?

"Ultimately, affirmative," he said. "Could things have been better at certain points? Certainly, but finally it's a developmental journey with the whole squad and I'm very happy that the aims are positive, if that is understandable."

Team Leadership

Team principal the Italian commented: "We'll have thorough reviews, productive conversations and, like after Canada, we'll return more resilient and even more united."

The team principal stated that although the squad had analyzed the incident in its immediate aftermath, "this contact is, actually, a consequence of different circumstances that happened 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 ask of them.

"The team's review needs to be very detailed, very analytical, it needs to consider the perspective of our both competitors, and then we will develop a common opinion based on which we will determine whether we can simply validate our initial interpretation or there's something else that we should conclude.

"Whenever we begin our discussions with the drivers, we always remind ourselves, as a premise: 'This is challenging'.

"Because this is the only matter in which, when you compete as teammates, actually you can't have identical objectives for the two drivers, because they want to pursue their personal goals. This is a core concept of the way we race at the team.

"We need to be accurate, because there's a lot 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, if anything, more fundamental than the championship standings."

McLaren's Success

The incident deflected attention from the British team securing the constructors' championship for the second year running.

It is the team's 10th constructors' title, moving them ahead of their rivals in the historical rankings into second place behind record-holders the Italian team, who have claimed it 16 times since the championship's inception in 1958.

This achievement represents one of the earliest times a squad has done this. It equals their rival's achievement in winning with multiple events remaining in 2023, although that was a 22-race season compared with 24 this year.

McLaren's advantage has diminished as the championship enters its final stages. That is partly because to the characteristics of the three most recent circuits not favoring its capabilities, and also because McLaren turned off the upgrade process earlier, while Mercedes and Red Bull still have new parts coming to their vehicles.

That decision by McLaren was rooted in the fact that they were seeing reduced benefits in improving this car, common when a design has such an edge at the start of a championship, and that they wanted to make certain they were ready for the following season.

Norris, though, is fully conscious of the magnitude of his squad's accomplishment, and the remarkable turnaround they have shown under their team principal and CEO their leader from recent history, when they began the 2023 season near the back of the field.

"Another title is a wonderful achievement," he commented. "If you consider where we were previously, we have surpassed every squad in terms of progress in a period when it is harder to do so with increased limitations and less wind tunnel time.

"In an era when it should be harder than before to excel, that's precisely what the team has accomplished and provided us, by a significant margin, the fastest vehicle on the starting lineup.

"That's always a pleasing aspect to say. It always puts a smile on your face. But we've also performed very well as a squad in terms of drivers, between Piastri and myself {pushing each other