Oscar Piastri did something ‘unbecoming’ of an F1 champion after Lando Norris incident in Singapore

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Oscar Piastri lost yet further ground to 2025 F1 title rivals Max Verstappen and Lando Norris during the Singapore Grand Prix, and he also left Marina Bay drawing criticism.

Piastri has watched what was a lead of 34 points against his McLaren teammate Norris and a 104-point gap over Red Bull rival Verstappen shrink to leads of 22 and 63 points over the last three rounds. The Australian has also started to crack under the pressure of an F1 title fight.

The 24-year-old had been almost unbreakable throughout most of the 2025 F1 season, after recovering from spinning in the rain to claim P9 in the season-opening Australian Grand Prix. Yet Piastri crashed in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix whilst trying to respond to jumping the start.

McLaren also saw further signs of the tension of the F1 drivers’ championship starting to get to Piastri during last Sunday’s Singapore GP, as the Melbourne native failed to hide his anger after losing P3 to Norris on the first lap. The papaya pilots made contact as they took Turn 3.

Oscar Piastri’s Lando Norris complaints in the Singapore Grand Prix were ‘unbecoming’ of an F1 title contender

Norris banged wheels with Piastri at the start of the Singapore GP, as the Briton had to turn towards his teammate after he hit the rear of Verstappen’s Red Bull. Verstappen took T3 at a slightly reduced pace compared to the McLaren duo while they duelled for track position.

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Piastri disagreed with McLaren not intervening in his incident with Norris, as the nine-time Grand Prix winner felt wronged by his teammate. Yet Perry McCarthy also believes Piastri’s complaints were a sign of trying to get an advantage with McLaren for any future incidents.

McCarthy has told RacingNews365: “I think that Oscar threw a tantrum because he wasn’t aware of exactly all the things that actually happened.

“But it’s a bit unbecoming, really, for somebody challenging for the world championship to make such a fuss about what was a totally legitimate passing manoeuvre, that was actually a very, very good passing manoeuvre by Norris.

“I suspect that Oscar was complaining to try and gain a little bit of capital for future negotiations when something might go wrong for him.

“But, nonetheless, I don’t think he did himself any favours reputationally. Because he’s the one who’s supposed to be ice cool and everything, and Lando is supposed to be the weaker one mentally. But that seemed to very much reverse itself in Singapore.”

Oscar Piastri has played the team game at McLaren in 2025, but has not seen the benefits

Piastri has often accepted McLaren’s position on matters that could harm his title chances in 2025 when the Woking outfit have handled any on-track events between the Australian and Norris. But McLaren did not share his sense of being wronged by Norris in the Singapore GP.

READ MORE: Every error that cost Lando Norris points in his failed 2024 F1 title challenge

McLaren ordered Piastri to hold position behind Norris in the Australian GP back in March as they negotiated traffic, as the papaya crew did not want their drivers to trip over each other. Yet it denied Piastri potentially his best chance to steal the lead before he then spun late on.

Piastri accepted McLaren’s order to swap positions with Norris at Monza, too, having edged in front of the 25-year-old in the Italian Grand Prix after the latter’s slower pit stop but after the Briton had let him pit first. McLaren had told Norris that Piastri would not undercut him.

Yet when Piastri has felt wronged in incidents that have benefitted Norris, McLaren have not shared the Australian’s view. Piastri asked McLaren to swap his and Norris’ positions for the lead at Silverstone after he fell behind in the British Grand Prix due to his 10-second penalty.

Piastri’s penalty for a safety car restart infringement at Silverstone was controversial and let Norris win the British GP for the first time. Yet McLaren could not order Norris to yield P1 at Silverstone to Piastri and they did not interfere in Singapore for what was a racing incident.