Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri’s collision at the end of the Singapore sprint race went unpunished by Formula 1’s stewards, who declared “both drivers had contributed to the incident.”
Norris tried a late and optimistic pass on his McLaren teammate down the inside of Turn 5 on the final lap, but collided as Piastri moved across to take the corner himself.
The McLaren drivers had been running fourth and fifth when the incident occurred.
McLaren’s rules of on-track engagement was one of the biggest Formula 1 storylines of the past two years -- infamously dubbed ‘Papaya Rules’ by team boss Andrea Stella in 2024, a nod to the papaya shade of orange on the team’s cars.
Saturday’s collision took Piastri out of the race completely, although Norris recovered to finish eighth, collecting a single point in the process.
Norris seemed irritated when asked about the move afterwards by Viaplay.
Asked if it was unnecessary, he replied: “What, to go for a big gap? Or overtake?”
He then asked the journalist: “What’s the title of the race? Sprint ... What’s after sprint?”
When the journalist replied “race,” Norris replied: “Wow, good job. Yeah, it’s race!”
The stewards deemed neither driver was predominantly to blame.
In a verdict released just as qualifying for Sunday’s grand prix started, the stewards said both could have avoided the incident which occurred.
The statement read: “The driver of Car 81 explained that he had not expected Car 1 to attempt an overtake and, after turning in, noticed Car 1 on the inside and attempted to leave space. The driver of Car 1 said that he saw an opportunity to overtake. He said that the front axle of his car was ahead of the mirror of Car 81 prior to the apex and therefore expected to be left space.
“As he approached the apex, the space was less than he had anticipated so he had to use the inside kerb and braked and a collision occurred. The Stewards considered that both drivers had contributed to the incident and that neither driver was wholly or predominantly to blame for the collision. Therefore the Stewards determined to take no further action.”