Damon Hill shares his stance on ‘feisty’ Lando Norris’ clash with Oscar Piastri at the Singapore Grand Prix

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The dynamic in Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri’s Formula 1 title battle might just have changed after a tense exchange at the Singapore Grand Prix.

McLaren allow their drivers to race freely, and that is exactly what they did on Sunday, lasting just a few corners before contact was made. An ambitious move from Norris left him with front wing damage, and later went on to prevent him from mounting a proper challenge for second place.

Meanwhile, Piastri spent much of the early part of his Singapore Grand Prix complaining that his teammate’s move had been too aggressive and compromised him. From his onboard camera, it certainly looked like quite the mighty bump.

Piastri may be ‘on his own’ after looking disconnected from his team’s constructors’ championship celebrations. There’s a chance that Piastri’s sights are set on Ferrari for the 2027 season, if frustration continues to grow at his current team.

READ MORE: Jenson Button shares what was ‘unusual’ about Lando Norris’ Singapore clash with Oscar Piastri

Damon Hill liked Lando Norris’ approach to ‘feisty’ Oscar Piastri clash in Singapore

Norris should have received a reprimand for his part in the Piastri collision, according to Anthony Davidson. He also made contact with the rear of Max Verstappen’s car, and didn’t have 100% control of his vehicle at that stage.

Martin Brundle had no issue with Norris and felt as though the Briton had been aggressive, but avoided crossing a fine line in his battle. On another day, the slippery conditions off-line could have resulted in a crash for either driver.

But they lived to fight another day, and with six races to go this season and one of the titles already sealed, it feels like the gloves are off in the fight between the McLaren drivers. The dynamic has just changed, and the intensity is only going to increase from here.

1996 Formula 1 champion Damon Hill was impressed by his fellow countryman and posted his thoughts after the race on X (formerly known as Twitter).

“On Lando: Feisty. Like it!” he said, suggesting that Norris, who is 22 points behind in the standings, needs to stand up for himself as he did.

READ MORE: Oscar Piastri agrees with Zak Brown on ‘difficult’ Lando Norris clash at the Singapore Grand Prix

Why have McLaren struggled over the last few Formula 1 races?

There are two main reasons why it looks like McLaren might have started to struggle over the last few Formula 1 races.

Starting off with their car, it is simply suited to tracks with longer and higher-speed corners. In Baku and Singapore, which are street circuits, corners pass very quickly.

It means that the MCL39 hasn’t been able to flex its muscles, but doesn’t mean they face any fundamental issues.

Secondly, Red Bull have continued to develop the RB21 for the last few months, while the Woking-based outfit paused their work a while ago. Inevitably, they would catch up at some point, but it looks like the next few races could be a really close battle between McLaren and Red Bull.