Lando Norris U-turn defended after 'cocky' Singapore media outburst

Lando Norris' dramatic change of tone after colliding with Oscar Piastri in Singapore has been defended by Guenther Steiner, who insisted the McLaren driver's apology was genuine rather than an exercise in damage control after coming across as "cocky".

Norris clipped Piastri's right-rear tyre while attempting a late lunge at Turn 5 on the final lap of the sprint race, sending his team-mate spinning and out of the session on the spot. 

Norris continued to finish eighth, but in the aftermath he refused to accept blame, instead deflecting responsibility in front of the media. The stewards later classed the clash as a racing incident, with no further action taken.

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella was far from satisfied with that explanation, and reportedly made clear to Norris that the collision between team-mates was unacceptable. B

y the time Sunday's grand prix was done, with Norris finishing fourth and Piastri recovering to fifth, the Briton's position had shifted entirely: he took full responsibility for the crash and even offered support over team radio to help Piastri's recovery drive.

Asked whether that turnaround was sincere or simply an attempt to smooth things over, Steiner told the Red Flags podcast that he could understand the scepticism, but believed Stella's intervention had been decisive.

"That is now difficult to look into," began Steiner. "I think he said sorry to everyone except Piastri about it.

"The next day (Sunday), it seemed like, whoa, whoa, whoa! Now you're overdoing it the wrong way. You're a dick one day, and the next day you are the opposite. So I don't know for sure.

"He sat down with Andrea, and I think Andrea, in these situations, is very good. I couldn't be very good. And I think he made him feel like a wanker.

"He just explained to him that this is not happening."

Lando Norris 'realisation' triggered post-grand prix apology

Steiner went further, arguing that Norris had genuinely reflected on his conduct rather than performing a calculated climbdown.

"And I do not think that Lando just did it for, call it a political reason, to make himself, 'Oh, I apologise now, and then I'm alright again.' Actually, he thought about it, and he came to the conclusion that what I did was actually pretty stupid," added Steiner.

"There was no need for it, and especially the reaction afterwards. Because when you do it, when you crash into your team-mate, you shouldn't do it, but it can happen.

"But the reaction from him was not Lando-esque, to say, 'I've got the number one' and all this stuff. This is not him, in my opinion.

"So he realised he was a little bit too cocky about that and needed to go the other way."