Lando Norris will carry what McLaren have called “sporting consequences” for the remainder of the Formula One season after his costly collision with team-mate Oscar Piastri in Singapore two weeks ago.
The fallout from that clash continues to ripple through the paddock as the pair prepare to resume their title battle at the United States Grand Prix in Austin this weekend.
Tension between the two McLaren drivers has been mounting ever since the opening-lap drama at Marina Bay.
On the third corner, Norris clipped the back of Max Verstappen’s Red Bull and in the melee made contact with Piastri, leaving the Australian furious.
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Piastri, who currently leads his team-mate by 22 points with six rounds left, demanded over the radio that the team instruct Norris to let him through.
McLaren, intruingly, declined the request.
That decision caused consternation inside the garage and exposed the fragility of McLaren’s so-called “Papaya Rules,” an internal code under team principal Andrea Stella which stresses above all that team-mates must avoid colliding.
Verstappen ⚔️ Norris ⚔️ Piastri Championship Battle 🏆 pic.twitter.com/U1CCGM6mtn
— JUST FORMULACAR (@justformulacar) October 9, 2025
Although the incident was not deliberate and Norris appeared to be attempting a legitimate move on the inside line, the team hierarchy decided to act.
“Things were reviewed and there will be repercussions for me until the end of the season,” Norris admitted ahead of this weekend’s race.
He stopped short of revealing the precise nature of the penalty but hinted it was something fans might notice on track.
Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri crashed in Singapore two weeks ago
|REUTERS
“If you’re clever, you’ll see what it is,” he added cryptically.
McLaren have declined to elaborate publicly, but a senior figure within the team has told the Daily Mail the punishment was “sporting rather than financial.”
That wording suggests an on-track restriction of some kind, possibly a limitation in strategy calls or intra-team privileges, though the team insist it will not compromise overall performance.
For his part, Norris said he accepted the outcome in the interest of preserving team unity.
“The team held me accountable for what happened, which I think is fair,” he said. “We’ve made progress since then, with me understanding what the repercussions were for myself.”
Both drivers are under long-term contracts with McLaren and are viewed as central to the team’s future.
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Lando Norris trails Oscar Piastri by 22 points ahead of the United States Grand Prix
| REUTERSYet relations have become increasingly delicate. At Monza last month, Piastri was instructed to let Norris through late in the race — an order that left its own mark on their rivalry.
In Austin, the dynamic between the two will be under close scrutiny.
McLaren have enjoyed a strong season of resurgence, regularly challenging Red Bull and Ferrari, but internal friction threatens to unsettle that momentum just as the campaign reaches its climax.
While Stella has emphasised that “competition must always come before conflict,” his young pairing now face a delicate balancing act — fighting for personal glory while avoiding further fractures inside one of Formula One’s most storied teams.
As one McLaren insider put it, the situation is “being managed carefully, but the temperature in the garage is higher than it looks.”
The next chapter in their duel unfolds this weekend in Texas, where the tension between talent and teamwork may once again define McLaren’s fortunes.