Oscar Piastri issues McLaren defence after Singapore GP frustration

Oscar Piastri has defended how McLaren dealt with the opening lap clash with team-mate Lando Norris at the Singapore Grand Prix two weeks ago.

Piastri was bumped aside by Norris as they battled for position, with the contact resulting in the latter consolidating third on the road.

McLaren opted not to intervene, much to Piastri's annoyance, who labelled the incident as “not fair” amid the squad's implementation of its racing principles.

However, Piastri has accepted that reading such situations while on-track action is occurring has its challenges.

“The only thing I would say is it's not always clear immediately, in the car or in the race, what all the reasoning for certain decisions is,” Piastri told media including RacingNews365.

“It’s always been very clear afterwards why certain decisions have been taken and why things have been done in a certain way.

“So for me, I don't think it is overcomplicated. Everything has had a justifiable reason.”

Piastri revealed that Norris accepted responsibility for the contact after a review was conducted after the race.

With the gap between the pair now reading just 22 points in Piastri's favour at the top of the drivers' championship, Norris has just six rounds left to overcome the deficit.

Piastri asserted he will not alter his approach to racing his team-mate as the season heads towards its conclusion. 

“Nothing is going to change,” he said. 

“It's just clear that we have that framework in place anyway. That's how we're expected to go racing. 

“So nothing is going to change because of what happened in Singapore.”