Norris faces penalty after taking out Piastri in Singapore Sprint clash

Lando Norris is facing a potential penalty after a late lunge on McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri ended in a collision that eliminated Piastri from the Singapore Grand Prix sprint on Saturday and sent both cars into a spin.

On the final lap of the 20-lap sprint, held in mixed conditions at Marina Bay, Norris dived to the inside of Turn 5 and struck Piastri’s right-rear corner as the gap closed faster than anticipated. Piastri retired with significant rear-end damage, while Norris recovered to finish eighth — a points-paying position he now risks losing after being summoned to the FIA race stewards.

Norris finished eight seconds ahead of Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, meaning a 10-second time penalty would drop him behind the Frenchman and hand Gasly the final championship point.

“In the last lap, there was a big opportunity into Turn 5, so I went for it,” Norris said. “The gap closed a bit more than I would have liked, and obviously I’ve had to back out of it because the gap was closing, so I’ve had to try and avoid the incident. And obviously there still was one. But it was a big gap, so I went for it. I have the right to do that. The rest, we go review as a team.”

Piastri was more measured in his immediate reaction. “I need to look at it,” he said. “I didn’t see him at the apex. I looked behind into the corner and saw he was a reasonable way behind for a corner like that, but I’ll have a look and the team can do what it needs to do.”

McLaren is understood not to share Norris’ assessment of the incident — a significant detail given the two drivers are competing for the constructors’ championship alongside their individual title bids.

Beyond the stewards’ inquiry, the team faces a logistical challenge: Piastri’s car requires a new gearbox ahead of qualifying, which was delayed to 21:30 local time. Teams were permitted to begin work at 19:13, leaving McLaren a window of just over two hours to complete the repair. A gearbox change of this nature can be made without incurring a grid penalty.