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Lando Norris claims that "every competitor on the grid" would have attempted the move that caused fresh controversy between Norris and his McLaren teammate the Australian during the recent race.

Norris made contact with Piastri on the corner exit of the third corner at Marina Bay after a bump with the leading car sent his car sideways.

This incident threatens to disrupt the carefully maintained team unity that McLaren has managed to maintain between both competitors through thoughtful management.

Before the race, Norris trailed his teammate by a significant margin in the championship standings, and reduced that gap by only a small amount after finishing third behind winner George Russell and Verstappen, with Piastri close behind in fourth position.

Driver Perspectives

Norris insisted he had done nothing wrong in overtaking his teammate.

"Anyone on the grid would have done what I did," he commented. "Should you fault me for going for a big opportunity, you don't belong in F1.

"I was slightly too close to Verstappen, but that's racing. Nothing serious happened, I'm confident I would have finished in front of Oscar anyway because he had the dirty part of the track on the outside.

"Of course I need to review it and the last thing I want is contact with my racing partner. I am the one who can't afford such situations. I would endanger my position just as much if that occurred.

"I will examine it but the governing body clearly thought it was fine and the team did, as well."

The driver rejected he had been overly aggressive with his teammate. "I made contact with Max," he explained, "so I wasn't aggressive with my racing partner."

Team Dynamics

Piastri expressed displeasure about the collision. He said over the team radio that the team's decision to take no action about it was "not fair."

After the race, he was more measured, stating he needed to review the incident before making additional statements.

"The primary issue is both vehicles making contact," he noted. "That's never what we want, so I'll analyze it in more depth."

The Australian has already been the competitor to suffer in no fewer than multiple debatable incidents this year.

In Hungary, he was the leading McLaren driver initially but his teammate was permitted to use a different strategy to overtake his partner, a choice that rival teams have scrutinized.

During the Italian Grand Prix, the Australian was ordered to allow his teammate through for second place after the Briton was held up by a slow pit stop. Piastri expressed concern that he thought there had been an agreement that a slow pit stop was just normal competition that had to be accepted, but acquiesced regardless.

Internally, he was not pleased about that situation, and he and the team conducted talks to resolve it.

But when asked after the Singapore Grand Prix whether he had worries that Norris might be getting favoritism, the Australian responded: "None."

Was he convinced the squad had been equitable all season?

"Ultimately, affirmative," he stated. "Could things have been better at specific moments? Certainly, but ultimately it's a developmental journey with the whole squad and I'm very satisfied that the intentions are positive, if that is understandable."

Team Leadership

Team principal Andrea Stella said: "We will conduct detailed analyses, constructive discussions and, similar to post-Canada, we'll return stronger and more cohesive."

The team principal explained that although the team had analyzed the incident in its immediate aftermath, "this contact is, actually, a result of another racing situation that occurred between Lando and Verstappen."

Stella added: "Oscar made some statements while he was in the car but that's the kind of attitude that we expect from our drivers. They have to express their views, that's what we ask of them.

"The team's review needs to be very detailed, very analytical, it needs to take into account the perspective of our two drivers, and then we will develop a common opinion upon which we will see whether we can simply validate our initial interpretation or there's something else that we should decide.

"Whenever we start our discussions with the competitors, we always remind ourselves, as a foundation: 'This is challenging'.

"Since this is the single area in which, when you compete as teammates, in fact you can't have exactly the same interest for the two drivers, because they want to pursue their individual aspirations. This is a core concept of the approach we take at McLaren.

"We must remain accurate, because there's a lot at risk. That's not only the valuable points, but it's also the confidence of our drivers in the manner we function as a team, and this is, if anything, more fundamental than the championship standings."

Championship Achievement

The controversy drew focus from McLaren winning the constructors' championship for the second year running.

It is McLaren's 10th constructors' title, placing them ahead of their rivals in the historical rankings into runner-up position behind leaders Ferrari, who have won it on sixteen occasions since the championship's inception in the late fifties.

This achievement represents one of the quickest instances a team has done this. It equals their rival's achievement in securing the title with multiple events remaining in last season, although that was a 22-race season compared with twenty-four this season.

McLaren's advantage has reduced as the season enters its final stages. That is due in part to the characteristics of the latest tracks not favoring its capabilities, and partly because McLaren ceased the development program some time ago, while their rivals still have updates coming to their cars.

That decision by the team was based on the fact that they were experiencing diminishing returns in improving this vehicle, typical when a design has such an edge at the start of a season, and that they wanted to make certain they were ready for the following season.

The British driver, however, is well aware of the magnitude of his squad's accomplishment, and the impressive transformation they have shown under Stella and chief executive officer their leader from just over two years ago, when they began the previous championship near the back of the grid.

"A second championship is a great thing," Norris commented. "Looking at where we were three years ago, we have outperformed every team in terms of progress in a period when it is harder to do so with more restrictions and less wind tunnel time.

"At a time when it should be harder than before to dominate, that's precisely what the team has accomplished and provided us, clearly, the best car on the grid.

"That's always a pleasing aspect to mention. It always brings satisfaction on your face. But we've also excelled as a squad in terms of competitors, between Piastri and myself {pushing each other