McLaren tells Norris and Piastri to park their egos after ‘unacceptable’ Singapore collision

SINGAPORE (AP) — McLaren team principal Andrea Stella said he will not tolerate drivers putting their egos 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 Saturday’s sprint race, but made contact with the Australian and both cars spun.

Norris dropped to eighth and Piastri didn’t finish, meaning McLaren picked up just one point in the Formula 1 teams’ standings instead of nine.

After what he called “a very long, tiring and challenging day,” Stella said he addressed the incident with Norris and Piastri.

“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 he was “told off” over the incident. He earlier defended the move, saying he thought it was a valid attempt to overtake.

The stewards didn’t issue Norris a penalty for causing a collision, ruling “both drivers had contributed to the incident.” That came after Norris told the stewards he expected Piastri to leave more space and Piastri said he was surprised by his teammate’s overtaking attempt.

Qualifying was another disappointment for McLaren with defending champion Norris fifth and Piastri seventh.

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The Associated Press