McLaren tells Norris, Piastri to park egos after collision

SINGAPORE (AP):

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has warned his drivers against putting personal ambitions ahead of the team after teammates Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri collided in the Singapore Grand Prix sprint race.

Norris made an ambitious overtaking attempt on Piastri for fourth place on the final lap of yesterday’s sprint, but made contact with the Australian and sent both cars into a spin.

Norris dropped to eighth while Piastri failed to finish, meaning McLaren collected just one point in the Formula One constructors’ standings instead of nine.

After what he described as “a very long, tiring and challenging day”, Stella said he addressed the incident with both drivers.

“Very simply, it is unacceptable that two McLarens ever come together on track. This is a fundamental principle of how we go racing, and something both drivers are very well aware of,” Stella said.

He added: “We have reminded our drivers that the interests of the team must always come first, and that did not happen today.”

Stella earlier told Sky Sports: “There’s no ego, there’s no person that’s bigger than the interest of the McLaren F1 team. This will be reiterated.”

Norris told Sky’s Italian broadcast that he was “told off” over the incident. He had earlier defended the move, saying he believed it was a legitimate overtaking attempt.

The stewards did not penalise Norris for causing a collision, ruling that “both drivers had contributed to the incident”. That came after Norris told the stewards he expected Piastri to leave more space, while Piastri said he was surprised by his teammate’s overtaking attempt.

Qualifying brought further disappointment for McLaren, with defending champion Norris fifth and Piastri seventh.

Max Verstappen won the sprint race and followed up by securing the 50th pole position of his career at the Singapore Grand Prix, a circuit where he had never previously claimed either a victory or pole.

“This is the one I wanted,” he said.

Apart from Verstappen, the day’s other big winner was Kimi Antonelli, who extended his advantage over George Russell after his Mercedes teammate crashed out from the lead in the sprint.

The Italian qualified fourth, putting himself in a strong position to score valuable points in tomorrow’s race, while Russell must serve a grid penalty.

An upgraded Red Bull car has played a key role in turning Verstappen’s season around, but the Dutchman says one major weakness remains.

Verstappen said Red Bull will need to address its “horrendous” starts after he lost the sprint lead off the line, just as he did in Malaysia last week, where he still managed to claim his first win of the 2026 season.

“We don’t accelerate off the line,” he said. “Up until now, we always have terrible starts. So we need to understand what’s going on there.”