McLaren meltdown grabs international media attention after Singapore GP.
Piastri skips McLaren’s Constructors’ title celebrations.
6 Oct 2025
Tobia Elia
GPblog.com
La Gazzetta dello Sport highlights McLaren’s Constructors’ Championship triumph but also points out the team’s third consecutive race without a win — not an ideal trend in terms of the Drivers’ Championship battle. “McLaren was clearly faster than Red Bull,” wrote La Gazzetta dello Sport. “The papaya duo took some risks at the start, with Norris — who finished third — attacking teammate Piastri, damaging his front wing and leaving the Australian, who ended up fourth, furious. Woking can celebrate the Constructors’ title, but a third race without a win is still a warning sign.”
Marca. the Spanish newspaper: “Norris did exactly what was asked of him — aggressive, committed, and focused. He saw the gap Piastri left at the first corner, went for it, and made slight contact with his teammate’s car. He managed to get ahead, leaving the Australian with front-wing damage after Turn 3 — and a fair amount of anger. Piastri was clearly frustrated. ‘This happens because there are no clear rules,’ he complained to his engineer. Still, McLaren insisted there was no fault on Lando’s part, as he had avoided a potential collision with Verstappen. More fuel to the fire for a season finale on the edge between the two teammates. McLaren will have to decide through its internal regulations — but the controversy is very much alive.”
BILD, on the other hand, points out that yesterday should have been a day of celebration for McLaren, but the contact between the two drivers instead created tension within the team, leaving little room for a festive mood. “It should have been a reason to celebrate, but there was little festive mood among the ‘Papayas,’ as the team is nicknamed for its orange car livery — least of all for Oscar Piastri!” While the team led by Andrea Stella and Zak Brown gathered on the podium — with the entire crew, including Lando Norris — to celebrate their second Constructors’ title, the Australian chose instead to focus on his media duties, sending a clear message after already switching off the radio while Zak Brown was speaking to him post-race.
‘McLaren meltdown’;
https://www.gpblog.com/en/news/mclar...r-singapore-gp
Singapore GP: 'I tried to puncture your tyre!' | Lando Norris jokes at Max Verstappen battle
5 October 2025
Sky Sports
Lando Norris poked fun at Max Verstappen, joking he'd tried to 'puncture' the Red Bull driver's tyre in their battle for second.
'I tried to puncture your tyre!';
https://www.skysports.com/f1/video/3...stappen-battle
Norris defends first lap move on Piastri: ‘If you fault me, you shouldn’t be in F1’
5th October 2025
Keith Collantine
RaceFans
Lando Norris firmly rejected any suggestion he dealt unfairly with his team mate Oscar Piastri on the first lap of the Singapore Grand Prix. “The start was good,” he said after the race. “The right-hand side of the grid was good, I think it was a good launch as well, so I got across and put myself in a good position to not get checked up out of turn one and into turn two.”
“I just had a big [move] up on the inside of Oscar. It was very close [and] so slippery because it was still damp in places and drying out. I think I just clipped the back of Max’s car, and that just gave me a little correction, but then that was it.” Norris pointed out he is at a disadvantage compared to his team mate in the championship, as he remains 22 points behind after this weekend’s race. But anyone on the grid would have done exactly the same thing as I did. So I think if you fault me for just going on the inside and putting my car on the inside of a big gap then I think you shouldn’t be in Formula 1.”
“I’m the one that can’t afford anything compared to him,” he said. “I would [have] put myself at risk just as much if that kind of thing happens. So I’ll see what I can do with it next time. But the FIA obviously thought it was fine, and the team did too, so that’s it.”
‘Lando Norris: “If you fault me, you shouldn’t be in F1”!’;
https://www.racefans.net/2025/10/05/...ldnt-be-in-f1/
Papaya Civil War: Norris-Piastri Spark at Singapore’s First Corner
October 5, 2025
Alex Albuquerque
FastestLap.com
Norris shrugs off Turn 1 brush with Piastri as McLaren keeps the big prize in sight. Lando Norris didn’t flinch. He rarely does. Third place in Singapore was tidy business for McLaren on a night where overtaking was rationed, but the story lived in the first 200 meters: Norris muscling up the inside, glancing off Max Verstappen’s Red Bull, and then ricocheting into Oscar Piastri’s papaya. Cue a sharp intake of breath on the pit wall and a spiky radio message from the other side of the garage.
Piastri’s complaint was quick and clear — “not fair,” “not very team-like” — after he had to catch a slide and flirt with the wall, surrendering the podium place he’d earned on Saturday. But Norris, speaking later, insisted there was nothing dirty in it. The move, he argued, was opportunistic on a damp, low-grip inside line and only looked spicy because his front wing brushed Verstappen first.
“I hit Max, so it wasn’t aggressive on my teammate,” was the gist from Norris, who also leaned on the drivers’ code that’s older than parc fermé: if there’s a gap at lights out, you go for it.
‘Papaya Civil War’;
https://fastestlap.com/news/papaya-c...-first-corner/
Lando Norris brushes off incident with Oscar Piastri: “It was good racing”
Lando Norris gives his view on his Lap 1 overtake on Oscar Piastri at the Singapore Grand Prix.
05 Oct 2025
Connor McDonagh
Crash.Net
Lando Norris has downplayed his incident with Oscar Piastri on the opening lap of the Singapore Grand Prix, labelling it as “good racing”. “Yeah, I mean, it was slippery [and] still wet in a lot of places, but it’s racing,” Norris said. “I put it on the inside, I had a small correction, but nothing more than that. It was good racing.”
“And like I said, I wish I could have given a little bit more. I wish there were a few more overtaking opportunities today, but I feel like I did everything I could today, and I’m happy with that. I’m happy with today, I got forward two positions. We won as a team, the constructors’, once again. So I’m most happy about that,” he added.
“I mean, it was a tough race. Max didn’t make any mistakes. Whether I was feeling good or not, I gave it my all today, and got close, a few chances where we were side by side, and some good little bits of battling. But just too difficult to overtake, which is a shame, because the pace was very strong today, and I would have loved to try to catch George and given him a little bit more pressure.”
‘Lando Norris brushes off incident’;
https://www.crash.net/f1/news/108363...as-good-racing
F1 LIVE | Piastri skips podium celebrations, Hamilton's love declaration to Ferrari
6 Oct 2025
Norberto Mujica
GPblog.com
Piastri absent from McLaren's podium celebrations. As Norris dived into Turn 3, he made contact with Verstappen, damaging his front wing's left endplate, before clashing with his teammate in an incident that left Piastri frustrated and calling for team intervention.
Piastri’s radio messages reflected clear irritation after his request for a position swap was denied. Despite the early collision, both McLaren drivers recovered to secure the points required, sealing back-to-back Constructors’ titles for the team. While Norris celebrated on the podium, Piastri was noticeably absent from McLaren’s post-race celebrations, a telling moment after the on-track battle that clouded what should've been a cohesive championship triumph celebration.
‘Piastri skips podium celebrations’;
https://www.gpblog.com/en/live/f1-li...ion-to-ferrari
McLaren boss takes action after Oscar Piastri dudded by own team in Singapore Grand Prix
Piastri was clearly frustrated by the incident with his teammate in Singapore.
6 October 2025
Andrew Reid
Yahoo! Australia
McLaren team boss Andrea Stella downplayed suggestions it could lead to further tensions between the teammates. The McLaren team boss said there would be "good conversations" between the drivers and the wider team, but backed their handling of the incident and indicated no subsequent punishment would be forthcoming.
Those comments are unlikely to appease Piastri or quell suggestions from critics that Norris enjoys favouritism from McLaren. The Aussie had further cause for dismay when a slow pit stop effectively ruined his chance to make a late charge for the podium. The 5.2sec stop may have made all the difference as Piastri ended up just two seconds adrift of Norris.
‘McLaren boss takes action’;
https://au.news.yahoo.com/mclaren-bo...gf1sxAtdoL1KyU
