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Lando Norris asserts that "every competitor on the grid" would have attempted the move that caused fresh controversy between himself and fellow driver Oscar Piastri during the Singapore Grand Prix.

Norris made contact with Piastri on the exit of the third corner at the Singapore circuit after a bump with the leading car caused him to slide.

This incident could potentially undermine the carefully maintained harmony that the British team has successfully preserved between their two drivers through strategic leadership.

Entering the event, Norris trailed his teammate by a significant margin in the points table, and narrowed that gap by only three points after taking the final podium spot behind winner George Russell and the Red Bull star, with Piastri following in fourth position.

Driver Perspectives

The Briton maintained he had done nothing wrong in passing his teammate.

"Every driver on the grid would have done what I did," he commented. "If you criticize me for going for a big opportunity, you shouldn't be in Formula 1.

"I was slightly too close to Verstappen, but that's racing. No major incident occurred, I'm certain I would have ended up ahead of Piastri regardless because he had the less favorable part of the circuit on the outside.

"Of course I need to analyze it and the worst scenario I want is collision with my racing partner. I am the one who must avoid such situations. I would put myself at risk just as much if that occurred.

"I will examine it but the governing body clearly thought it was fine and the team did, too."

The driver rejected he had been overly aggressive with Piastri. "I made contact with Max," he explained, "so I wasn't forceful with my teammate."

McLaren's Response

The Australian showed unhappiness about the collision. He said over the team radio that the squad's choice to do nothing about it was "not fair."

After the race, he was more measured, saying he needed to watch the situation before commenting further.

"The main concern is two cars making contact," he commented. "That's never what we desire, so I'll analyze it in greater detail."

Piastri has already been the driver to suffer in no fewer than multiple debatable incidents this season.

During the Hungarian Grand Prix, he was the team's frontrunner initially but his teammate was permitted to use a alternative approach to overtake his partner, a decision that rival teams have questioned.

And in Italy, Piastri was instructed to allow his teammate through for second place after the British driver was held up by a lengthy service. He complained that he believed there had been an understanding that a delayed service was just normal competition that had to be accepted, but acquiesced anyway.

Behind the scenes, he was not pleased about that circumstance, and he and the squad conducted talks to address the matter.

But questioned after Sunday's race whether he had worries that Norris might be getting favoritism, Piastri responded: "No."

Did he believe the squad had been equitable all season?

"In the end, yes," he said. "Might situations have been better at certain points? Certainly, but ultimately it's a developmental journey with the entire team and I'm extremely happy that the intentions are very well meaning, if that makes sense."

Team Leadership

Team principal the Italian said: "We'll have detailed analyses, constructive discussions and, similar to post-Canada, we'll return more resilient and even more united."

Stella stated that although the team had reviewed the incident in its immediate aftermath, "this contact is, in reality, a result of different circumstances that happened between Lando and Verstappen."

He continued: "Piastri made some comments while he was in the car but that's the kind of attitude that we expect from our competitors. They have to make their position clear, that's what we require of them.

"Our analysis needs to be very detailed, highly methodical, it needs to take into account the viewpoint of our both competitors, and then we will develop a common opinion upon which we will see whether we can simply validate our initial interpretation or there's additional factors that we should conclude.

"Every time we begin our conversations with the drivers, we always remind ourselves, as a foundation: 'This is difficult'.

"Since this is the only matter in which, when you compete as teammates, actually you can't have exactly the same interest for the both competitors, because they want to pursue their personal goals. This is a core concept of the approach we take at McLaren.

"We need to be accurate, because there's much at risk. That's not only the championship points, but it's additionally the trust of our drivers in the manner we function as a squad, and this is, perhaps, more fundamental than the points themselves."

McLaren's Success

The controversy deflected attention from McLaren securing the constructors' championship for the second consecutive year.

It is McLaren's 10th constructors' title, placing them ahead of Williams in the historical rankings into second place behind record-holders Ferrari, who have claimed it 16 times since the championship's inception in 1958.

This achievement represents one of the quickest instances a team has accomplished this. It equals Red Bull's feat in winning with six races to go in last season, although that was a shorter championship compared with 24 this season.

McLaren's advantage has reduced as the season heads into its final stages. That is partly because to the characteristics of the latest tracks not favoring its strengths, and partly because the team ceased the upgrade process some time ago, while Mercedes and Red Bull still have new parts arriving to their cars.

This choice by the team was based on the reality that they were experiencing diminishing returns in improving this vehicle, typical when a concept has such an edge at the beginning of a season, and that they wanted to ensure they were ready for the following season.

The British driver, though, is fully conscious of the magnitude of his squad's accomplishment, and the impressive transformation they have demonstrated under Stella and chief executive officer Zak Brown from recent history, when they started the previous championship close to the rear of the field.

"Another title is a wonderful achievement," Norris said. "If you consider where we were three years ago, we have surpassed every team in terms of progress in a period when it is more challenging to do so with increased limitations and less wind tunnel time.

"In an era when it should be more difficult than before to excel, that's precisely what the squad has accomplished and provided us, by a significant margin, the best car on the starting lineup.

"It's consistently a pleasing aspect to say. It always puts a smile on your expression. But we've additionally performed very well as a squad in terms of competitors, between Piastri and myself {pushing each other