Lando Norris has changed his stance on the collision he had with McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri during the Singapore Grand Prix sprint race and has now taken full responsibility for the incident.
The McLaren teammates collided on the final lap of Saturday’s Singapore sprint race as Norris attempted to pass his teammate for fourth place on the inside of Turn 5.
Piastri retired as a result of the incident, while Norris continued to eighth at the checkered flag -- scoring McLaren a single point instead of the nine it would have accumulated for finishing fourth and fifth.
Norris, who was not punished following a stewards’ investigation, appeared defiant in the immediate aftermath of the incident, including in an interview with Viaplay.
Asked if the collision with Piastri was unnecessary given that they were teammates fighting over fourth and fifth in a sprint race, Norris replied: “What, to go for a big gap? Or overtake?”
He then asked the reporter: “What’s the title of the race? Sprint ... What’s after sprint?”
When the reporter replied “race,” Norris said: “Wow, good job. Yeah, it’s race!”
Further meetings between the McLaren drivers and its senior management followed before Sunday’s Singapore Grand Prix, with team principal Andrea Stella telling Sky Sports the collision was “simply not acceptable.”
After finishing fourth in Sunday’s race, Norris’ tone around the incident had changed and he admitted he should not have attempted the move.
“It’s pretty straightforward. I can’t attempt what I did,” Norris said. “I should never have attempted it in the first place, even if the move was on.
“I simply have to think more of the team that I represent than myself. It was a mistake on my part and I let down the team.
“I’ve also apologised to all of them and I owe them all an apology. We’ll do better next time.”