AUSTIN, Texas: McLaren’s scrap in Singapore has been settled. It’s time to get the drivers back to chasing a Formula 1 championship.
Lando Norris said Thursday that the team determined he bore responsibility and the consequences for bumping into teammate Oscar Piastri at the start of the last race in Singapore two weeks ago.
The aggressive incident allowed Norris to snatch the early position and finish ahead of his teammate. And that shrunk Piastri’s championship lead to just 22 points over Norris with six grand prix and three sprint races left in the season.
While no details were given on what “responsibility” and “consequences” mean for Norris going forward, both drivers said there would be no change to the team’s “papaya rules” of racing heading into the United States Grand Prix this weekend.
“We’re very clear on how we want to go racing as a team,” Piastri said at the Circuit of the Americas. “And the incident we had in Singapore isn’t how we want to go racing.”
Piastri complained over the team radio during the Singapore race that by not ordering Norris to swap positions, the team wasn’t being “fair” to him after previous incidents when he was ordered to let Norris pass him.
The episodes have raised questions whether the pressure and tensions of a title fight between teammates, and racing decisions, are starting to tear apart a tight-knit team that already clinched the constructor’s championship. Piastri and Norris are both chasing their first F1 driver’s championship.
Norris said it was fair to be held accountable for a racing incident that favored him at the finish line, even though the team did nothing to correct it during the race and he wasn’t penalized by race stewards.
“The simple answer is that there was contact between the two cars and that’s something which we always want to avoid,” Norris said. “I didn’t want what happened to happen. But I’m never going to let go of an opportunity. There was a gap and I went for it ... But nothing changes from how we go racing.”
Norris downplayed any suggestion of team fractures similar to when Mercedes teammates Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg were fighting for the championship in 2015 and 2016.
He praised McLaren team principal Andrea Stella’s leadership in tamping down internal tension.
“I don’t know what’s happened to other teams in the past and what Lewis and Rosberg had, but Andrea’s No. 1 priority is preserving the morale, and the framework that we set out,” Norris said.
Piastri’s seven wins this season are two more than Norris, but neither driver has stood atop the podium in the last three races.
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen is on a late-season charge with two victories and a second place in the last three races to revive his title hopes.
With Verstappen in hot pursuit, Piastri was asked if he thinks the team should favor him as the leader to try to close out the championship.
“No. I think every driver wants a fair chance to try and win a championship,” Piastri said. “For me, it’s more than fair to let us both keep fighting for that.”
Keeping it cool in the cockpit
Saturday’ sprint race and Sunday’s main event have been declared “heat hazard” events by governing body FIA because temperatures are forecasted to soar above 88 degrees Fahrenheit (31 degrees Celsius) on both days. That triggers a rule that gives drivers the option to wear specialized cooling vests during the race.
Texas will be the second consecutive race with the heat hazard designation. The cockpit of the car can be even hotter than the outside temperature.
The cooling vest pumps fluid around a network of tubes. Mercedes’ George Russell wore one in his dominant victory in the sweltering heat of Singapore. Verstappen didn’t wear his in finishing second.
Norris held accountable for McLaren’s scrap in Singapore that tightened up F1 title chase
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Norris held accountable for McLaren’s scrap in Singapore that tightened up F1 title chase
- The aggressive incident allowed Norris to snatch the early position and finish ahead of his teammate
Pineau leads by 1 as Vecchi Fossa stars at Hilton Classic in Tangier
- Leaders hit a 2-under-par 70 in what proved arguably the most challenging conditions of the MENA Golf Tour season so far
TANGIER: France’s Pierre Pineau holds a one-shot lead heading into the final round of the Hilton Classic at Al-Houara Golf Club in Tangier after battling to a two-under-par 70 in arguably the most challenging conditions of the MENA Golf Tour season so far.
Italy’s Jacopo Vecchi Fossa produced a stunning six-under 66 to storm into contention despite the torrential afternoon rain.
Pineau, who began the day on three-under par, made four birdies against two bogeys to move to five under overall and head a congested leaderboard.
He navigated the morning conditions well enough, reaching the turn one-under for his round, before digging deep on the back nine as the weather deteriorated sharply.
“On the back nine I just fought as hard as I could,” Pineau said. “The rain was not so much about distance, it was more about the ball sliding on the face on chips and wedges. I have played in tough, changing weather before so I felt comfortable adapting.”
“It would mean a lot to win because I have struggled over the last 12 months, so it would be a big boost of confidence,” he added. “After today my confidence is in a good place.”
Three players share second place on four-under par. England’s Curtis Knipes carded a composed 71, making birdies at the ninth, 13th and 15th to offset bogeys at the first and 17th and maintain his challenge.
Pakistan’s Aadam Syed also signed for a 71, his four birdies countered by three dropped shots in a battling round he described as a constant test of patience.
“It was a real battle out there today,” Syed said. “Yesterday was windy but it eased over the last six holes and you could start firing at flags. Today it was constant all day, so patience was key.”
Syed, who had his father on the bag, is chasing a first title. “To win on the MENA Golf Tour would mean a great deal,” he said. “I have not won as a professional yet, so to tick that off would be huge and would confirm to myself that I am good enough.”
The third member of the second-place trio was the story of the day. Fossa, who started on the first tee, produced a flawless six-under 66, featuring four birdies and an eagle at the 10th, all without a bogey despite the increasingly brutal afternoon conditions.
“Honestly, I don’t really know how I did it,” Vecchi Fossa said. “On the back nine it was rain and wind the whole way and I was hitting hybrid and three wood into par fours straight into the wind. It was crazy out there.
“The hardest part was gripping the club with so much water, but I managed to hit a lot of fairways and the putts went in, which made the difference.”
France’s Andoni Etchenique and overnight leader Aron Zemmer, who slipped back with a two-over 74, share fifth place on three-under par.
Ireland’s Alex Maguire, the round one co-leader, dropped two shots to sit at two under with New Zealand’s Luke Kidd and Ireland’s Paul McBride in a tie for seventh.
Ayoub Lguirati remains the highest-placed Moroccan heading into the final round, the home favorite signing for a 74 to sit on two-over par in a share of 20th place, with compatriots Ayoub Ssouadi and Issam Nakrou also making the cut.
The final round of the Hilton Classic gets underway on Wednesday, with the $100,000 prize fund and Official World Golf Ranking points on the line.
