'Will irrevocably change': McLaren urged to flip team rules after Piastri, Norris clash

Former driver and F1 commentator Martin Brundle says Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris have reached the point of no return, after the Brit's hard-charging pass on his teammate and title rival at the Singapore Grand Prix.

McLaren had to deal with Piastri asking over the radio whether the team was "cool with Lando just barging me out of the way" after they banged wheels on the opening lap.

Chief executive Zak Brown said McLaren was just "letting them race" but the team's hands-on role in managing its drivers' title fight this year means its decision not to intervene faced scrutiny.

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McLaren has intervened in on-track action before under its "papaya rules", asking Piastri to give back a place when Norris had a slow pit stop in Italy last month. The lack of direction from the team in Singapore left most observers confused, including Piastri.

As a result, Brundle believes the relationship between the Australian and Norris "will irrevocably change."

"I have no doubt whatsoever that the dynamics between the two McLaren drivers will irrevocably change going forward," Brundle wrote on Sky Sports.

"It was just a matter of time. Perhaps McLaren should now just let their two drivers duke it out, gloves off, between themselves with zero interference.

"Any nuclear fallout will be tempered by the need to finish races, score points, avoid FIA in-race penalties, avoid Verstappen catching the pair of them, and running out of the latest specification of parts as the team focuses on 2026."

Securing the constructors' title with six races remaining underlined McLaren's status as F1's top team but both its drivers lost ground to Verstappen in the standings. McLaren is now without a win in three races.

The constructors' title has been a foregone conclusion for months. McLaren's 650 points are double the 325 of second-placed Mercedes, but it's no longer the overwhelming favourite each week.

Filip Cleeren of Motorsport.com claims the lack of action from McLaren could have deeper consequences.

"I have another theory, which is that by suggesting he wanted McLaren to take action, Piastri was making a bit of a statement rather than it being something he genuinely believed in," Cleeren wrote.

"This is, of course, a direct result of the precedent McLaren set in Monza by ordering Norris through after a botched pitstop. That was a decision Piastri was deeply uncomfortable with and while it has been clarified within the team, it's still there to be referred to if anything like this happens in the other direction.

"Piastri saw this as a situation that demanded redress because it was not a fair pass, albeit based on his reaction in-race without the benefit of seeing it beyond what he experienced in the moment, whereas McLaren used the stewards taking no action and the confounding factor of the Verstappen collision to shrug it off."

Even though McLaren secured the constructors' title, how to handle the other title fight between Piastri and Norris is a question which won't go away.

"Piastri was told to control the controllables by race engineer Tom Stallard when he was complaining," Edd Straw from The Race, wrote.

"Perhaps McLaren, which has done a remarkable job in so many ways this year, is guilty of trying to control the uncontrollables with the extent of how it tries to manage fairness between the drivers and effectively over-promised on what it is possible to manage?

"And if that's the case, that could create some major flashpoints in the races to come. Not to mention some tense conversations on what should be a day of celebration after winning the constructors' championship."

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella said the team would review the incident but also thought Piastri's initial comments were down to race context.

"That's the kind of character that we want to have from our drivers. They have to make their position very clear," he said.

"We made our assessment, and we thought that the right course of action is the one that we took.

"But part of the process is the review that will happen in the coming days and surely this will lead to an even more united and stronger team."

Stella said securing the constructors' championship would not change the rules of engagement between Piastri and Norris.

"This is a foundational principle of the way we go racing at McLaren, we want to protect this 'let them race' concept," he added. "If we have been able to navigate through these difficult parts of going racing, it's because we have Lando and Oscar on board."

-with AP, Reuters