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Lando Norris asserts that "every competitor on the starting lineup" would have made the move that caused renewed tension between Norris and fellow driver the Australian during the Singapore Grand Prix.

The Briton collided with his teammate on the corner exit of turn three at the Singapore circuit after a bump with the leading car sent his car sideways.

The collision could potentially disrupt the well-managed harmony that McLaren has managed to maintain between their two drivers through thoughtful management.

Entering the event, Norris was behind his teammate by 25 points in the points table, and reduced that deficit by only three points after finishing third behind winner George Russell and the Red Bull star, with Piastri close behind in fourth position.

Racing Opinions

The Briton maintained he had acted appropriately in passing his teammate.

"Every driver on the starting lineup would have attempted what I did," he commented. "If you criticize me for going for a big opportunity, you shouldn't be in Formula 1.

"I was slightly too close to Verstappen, but that's racing. No major incident occurred, I'm confident I would have ended up ahead of Oscar anyway because he had the less favorable part of the circuit on the outside.

"Naturally I need to analyze it and the last thing I want is contact with my teammate. I am the one who can't afford any incidents. 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 team did, as well."

Norris denied he had been overly aggressive with Piastri. "I made contact with Max," he explained, "meaning I wasn't aggressive with my teammate."

McLaren's Response

Piastri expressed displeasure about the collision. He said over the in-car communication that the squad's choice to take no action about it was "unjust."

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

"The main concern is two cars coming together," he commented. "That's never what we want, so I'll analyze it in greater detail."

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

In Hungary, he was the team's frontrunner early in the race but Norris was allowed to use a different strategy to overtake his partner, a choice that competitors have questioned.

And in Italy, Piastri was ordered to allow his teammate through for P2 after the Briton was held up by a lengthy service. He complained that he thought there had been an agreement that a slow pit stop was just part of racing that had to be tolerated, but acquiesced regardless.

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

But questioned after Sunday's race whether he had worries that his teammate might be receiving preferential treatment, Piastri said: "No."

Did he believe the team had been equitable all season?

"Ultimately, affirmative," Piastri said. "Could things have been better at certain points? Yes, but ultimately it's a developmental journey with the entire team and I'm extremely satisfied that the intentions are positive, if that is understandable."

Team Leadership

McLaren boss Andrea Stella commented: "We'll have thorough reviews, productive conversations and, similar to post-Canada, we'll return stronger and even more united."

Stella stated that although the squad had analyzed the incident in its direct consequence, "the collision is, actually, a result of different circumstances that occurred between Norris and Verstappen."

Stella added: "Oscar made some comments while he was in the cockpit but that's the type of character that we want from our competitors. They have to make their position clear, that's what we require of them.

"Our analysis needs to be very detailed, highly methodical, it needs to consider the viewpoint of our both competitors, and then we will form a shared understanding upon which we will see whether we can simply validate our first assessment or there's something else that we should decide.

"Whenever we start our conversations with the drivers, we always remind ourselves, as a premise: 'This is difficult'.

"Because this is the single area in which, when you compete as teammates, in fact you can't have identical objectives for the both competitors, because they seek to achieve their individual aspirations. This is a core concept of the approach we take at the team.

"We must remain precise, because there's a lot at stake. That's not only the valuable points, but it's also the trust of our competitors in the way we operate as a squad, and this is, if anything, even more foundational than the points themselves."

McLaren's Success

The controversy drew focus from the British team securing the constructors' championship for the second year running.

It is McLaren's tenth team championship, placing them above Williams in the all-time list into runner-up position after leaders the Italian team, who have claimed it 16 times since the championship's inception in 1958.

Their victory represents one of the earliest times a team has accomplished this. It matches Red Bull's feat in securing the title with multiple events remaining in last season, although that was a shorter championship compared with 24 this year.

The team's lead has diminished as the season enters its concluding phase. That is due in part to the characteristics of the three most recent circuits not favoring its capabilities, and partly because the team ceased the upgrade process some time ago, while Mercedes and Red Bull still have new parts arriving to their cars.

This choice by McLaren was based on the fact that they were experiencing reduced benefits in developing this car, common when a concept has such an edge at the beginning of a championship, and that they wanted to make certain they were well prepared for the following season.

The British driver, though, is fully conscious of the scale of his squad's accomplishment, and the impressive transformation they have shown under Stella and CEO Zak Brown from recent history, when they started the previous championship close to the back of the field.

"Another title is a wonderful achievement," he said. "Looking at where we were previously, we have outperformed every squad in terms of progress in a period when it is harder to achieve with more restrictions and reduced testing.

"At a time when it should be harder than before to dominate, that's precisely what the squad has accomplished and given us, by a significant margin, the fastest vehicle on the starting lineup.

"That's always a very nice thing to say. It always puts a smile on your expression. But we've additionally performed very well as a team in terms of drivers, between Oscar and me {pushing each other