How Oscar Piastri avoided questions on clash with Lando Norris and McLaren team orders

Oscar Piastri declined to give any real comment on the clash between him and his McLaren team-mate Lando Norris during the opening lap of the Singapore Grand Prix. Repeating that he's yet to view the contact from other angles, he was keen to stay silent on the subject. 

On the first lap, Norris lunged in a move to take third place, but as he lost traction, he collided with the gearbox of the Red Bull before hitting the front wheel of his team-mate's car. This was reviewed by the stewards and it was deemed that no further action would be taken. McLaren came to the same conclusion and allowed its British driver to continue on his campaign that saw him take a podium finish. 

Piastri was angered by this, making his thoughts known over team radio, and was later asked about the altercation by Sky Sports F1.

"Obviously a difficult race, difficult first lap, but I've not seen the replay obviously," he said, not wanting to put his foot in it. "I just know from in-car, so I'll go and have a look, but it's obviously a great night for the whole team.

"Obviously not the race I was looking for, but for the whole team," he continued. "Tonight is a culmination of a lot of hard work over not just this year but lots of years, so it's a really proud moment for me to be a part of that and a proud moment for the whole team."

When Zak Brown's comments were put to him after he said the team's drivers "race hard and clean", the Australian once again kept his counsel. “Yes, I think we do. I don't think obviously there was any intention of contact, but there was and again I need to look at the replay and see what exactly happened.”

Oscar Piastri, McLaren

Pressed on whether the moment set a new precedent for the rest of the season, he again chose to avoid the question. “I don't know, I've not seen the incident from the TV cameras, so I need to look at that first before I say any comments.”

Piastri comes away from the weekend after two disheartening grands prix, but is sure it won't get the better of him as the championship fight continues to heat up. Norris now sits just 22 points behind him in the drivers' standings. 

"I think just take the learnings from this weekend and see what can be improved.

"I think the weekend as a whole was genuinely very good. Practice went well, qualifying went well, the race maybe a little bit slow to get going, but I feel like the pace for the rest of the race was pretty good. Obviously, around here it's pretty much impossible to overtake, so that was all."

Lando Norris defends first lap Singapore GP move against Oscar Piastri

Singapore GP start ignites McLaren friction as Oscar Piastri protests lack of team orders

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