Lando Norris dismisses contentious Oscar Piastri contact: 'It’s racing'

Lando Norris has waved away any notion of wrongdoing in his first-lap clash with Oscar Piastri at the Singapore Grand Prix.

The McLaren team-mates made contact at Turn 3 on the opening lap at the Marina Bay Street Circuit, but only because the Briton had first touched Max Verstappen, something that damaged his front wing and pushed him towards the other MCL39.

Piastri was unaware of that trigger and was outspoken in his dissatisfaction over team radio. However, McLaren opted not to intervene, and the FIA stewards did not deem the incident worthy of investigation.

It set Norris up to come home in third position, with Piastri behind in fourth place. It cut the Australian's F1 drivers' championship advantage to 22 points with six rounds remaining.

Speaking after the grand prix, Norris — who had been under the weather in the run-up to the weekend — reflected on the gruelling 62-lap race.

When asked how he was feeling, the 25-year-old replied: "Yeah, not too bad, not too bad. I could go again. I mean, it was a tough race. Max didn't make any mistakes.

"Whether I was feeling good or not, I gave it my all today, and got close, a few chances where we're side by side, and some good little bits of battling.

"But just too difficult to overtake, which is a shame, because the pace was very strong today, and I would have loved to try to catch George and given him a little bit more pressure."

However, he was keen to express his pleasure at McLaren wrapping up a second-consecutive constructors' crown — the first time the Woking-based squad has done so since 1991.

"I'm happy with today, I got forward two positions. We won as a team, the constructors, once again. So I'm most happy about that," he added.

The nine-time grand prix winner was unfazed when asked to share his read on his first lap collision with Piastri, explaining his view that it was purely "good racing" between the leading gaggle.

"Yeah, I mean, it was slippery [and] still wet in a lot of places, but it's racing," Norris said. "I put it on the inside, I had a small correction, but nothing more than that. It was good racing.

"And like I said, I wish I could have given a little bit more. I wish there were a few more overtaking opportunities today, but I feel like I did everything I could today, and I'm happy with that."

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