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The British driver claims that "every competitor on the starting lineup" would have made the move that sparked renewed tension between himself and his McLaren teammate the Australian during the Singapore Grand Prix.

The Briton collided with his teammate on the exit of the third corner at Marina Bay after a bump with the leading car sent his car sideways.

This incident could potentially disrupt the carefully maintained team unity that McLaren has successfully preserved between their two drivers through strategic leadership.

Before the race, the British driver trailed Piastri by a significant margin in the points table, and reduced that deficit by only three points after finishing third behind the Mercedes driver and Verstappen, with Piastri following in fourth position.

Racing Opinions

The Briton maintained he had done nothing wrong in overtaking his teammate.

"Every driver on the grid would have attempted what I did," he commented. "Should you fault me for going for a big opportunity, you shouldn't be in F1.

"My car was slightly too close to Max, but that's competition. No major incident occurred, I'm certain I would have finished in front of Oscar regardless because he had the less favorable part of the track on the outside.

"Of course I need to review it and the worst scenario I want is contact with my teammate. I am the one who can't afford such situations. I would put myself at risk just as much if that occurred.

"I will examine it but the FIA clearly thought it was fine and the McLaren did, as well."

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

Team Dynamics

Piastri expressed unhappiness about the incident. He said over the in-car communication that the squad's choice to take no action about it was "not fair."

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

"The primary issue is two cars making contact," he commented. "That's never what we desire, so I'll analyze it in greater detail."

Piastri has previously been the competitor to suffer in no fewer than two controversial situations this year.

During the Hungarian Grand Prix, he was the leading McLaren driver initially but Norris was permitted to use a alternative approach to beat his teammate, a choice that competitors have scrutinized.

And in Italy, the Australian was instructed to allow his teammate through for P2 after the Briton was delayed by a lengthy service. He complained that he believed there had been an understanding that a delayed service was just normal competition that had to be tolerated, but acquiesced anyway.

Internally, he was not pleased about that circumstance, and he and the team held discussions to resolve it.

But when asked after the Singapore Grand Prix whether he had any concerns that his teammate might be receiving preferential treatment, the Australian said: "None."

Did he believe the team had been equitable throughout the championship?

"Ultimately, affirmative," Piastri stated. "Might situations have been improved at specific moments? Yes, but ultimately it's a developmental journey with the entire team and I'm extremely happy that the intentions are very well meaning, if that is understandable."

Team Leadership

Team principal Andrea Stella said: "We'll have thorough reviews, constructive discussions and, similar to post-Canada, we'll come back stronger and even more united."

Stella explained that although the squad had reviewed the incident in its direct consequence, "this contact is, actually, a result of another racing situation that happened between Norris and Verstappen."

He continued: "Piastri made some statements while he was in the cockpit but that's the kind of attitude that we want from our drivers. They have to make their position clear, that's what we ask of them.

"Our analysis needs to be extremely thorough, highly methodical, it needs to consider the viewpoint of our both competitors, and then we will form a shared understanding based on which we will determine whether we can just confirm our first assessment or there's additional factors that we should decide.

"Whenever we start our conversations with the drivers, we always recall, as a foundation: 'This is difficult'.

"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 personal goals. This is a foundational principle of the way we race at the team.

"We need to be accurate, because there's a lot at risk. That's not only the valuable points, but it's additionally the confidence of our competitors in the way we operate as a squad, and this is, if anything, even more foundational than the championship standings."

Championship Achievement

The incident deflected attention from the British team securing the constructors' championship for the second consecutive year.

It is McLaren's tenth team championship, moving them above their rivals in the all-time list into runner-up position behind record-holders the Italian team, who have claimed it 16 times since the championship's inception in 1958.

Their victory represents one of the quickest instances a team has done this. It matches their rival's achievement in winning with six races to go in 2023, although that was a 22-race season compared with 24 this year.

The team's lead has reduced as the championship heads into its concluding phase. That is due in part to the nature of the three most recent circuits not suiting its capabilities, and also because the team turned off the upgrade process some time ago, while their rivals still have updates arriving to their vehicles.

This choice by McLaren was rooted in the fact that they were experiencing diminishing returns in improving this car, common when a concept has such an advantage at the start of a season, and that they wanted to ensure they were well prepared for next year.

The British driver, though, is well aware of the magnitude of his team's achievement, and the impressive transformation they have shown under Stella and CEO Zak Brown from just over two years ago, when they started the previous championship near the back of the grid.

"A second championship is a wonderful achievement," he commented. "Looking at where we were previously, we have surpassed every team in terms of progress in a time when it is more challenging to achieve with more restrictions and less wind tunnel time.

"At a time when it should be more difficult than before to dominate, that's precisely what the squad has accomplished and provided us, by a significant margin, the fastest vehicle on the grid.

"That's always a pleasing aspect to mention. It always puts a smile on your face. But we've also excelled as a team in terms of drivers, between Oscar and me {pushing each other