Lando Norris has avoided a penalty after his crash with Oscar Piastri during the sprint of the Singapore Grand Prix in Formula 1. On the last lap of this 20-lap race that had mixed conditions, Norris attempted an overtake on the inside at turn 5, but found insufficient space and collided with Piastri’s rear right wheel.
This collision caused both drivers to experience an unexpected spin. Piastri was left out of the race with significant damage to his rear, while Norris finished in eighth place. However, his situation was compromised when he was summoned by the FIA race stewards.
According to a document issued by the stewards, it was explained that ‘the driver of car 81’ did not expect this maneuver from Piastri and that, despite attempting to leave space, he collided with him. For his part, Piastri defended his action by claiming that his front was ahead of Norris’s mirror before the apex, but that the space was smaller than he had estimated.
After analyzing the circumstances, the stewards concluded that both drivers had contributed to the incident and that neither was fully responsible. For this reason, they decided not to take further action.
Speaking after the race, Norris commented: ‘On the last lap, there was a great opportunity at turn 5, so I went for it. The gap closed more than I would have liked, but at least I tried to avoid it. There was a collision, but I had the right to do it.’
Piastri, for his part, stated: ‘I need to review it. I didn’t see him at the apex. I looked back and saw he was reasonably far away, but I will look at it and the team will do what it has to do.’
Aside from losing points, McLaren mechanics raced against the clock to repair Piastri’s car in time for qualifying, which was delayed until 21:30 hours. Piastri managed to get out in Q1 after changing the gearbox, a modification that did not involve any penalty.
Written by FormulaRapidaAI
