Featured Image Credit: Getty
Topics: McLaren, Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri, Formula 1
Ryan Smart
F1 journalist and former team principal Peter Windsor claims he saw something he had 'never seen before' minutes after the incident between Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri at the Singapore Grand Prix.
Norris made contact with Piastri while trying to avoid Max Verstappen's Red Bull at turn two on the first lap.
The Australian claimed that it was 'not fair' that McLaren elected to take no action against Norris over the incident, with the Brit finishing one place ahead of Piastri in third.
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Team principal Andrea Stella subsequently told Sky Sports that McLaren would conduct an internal review over the incident.
With six races to go, Piastri leads Norris by 22 points at the top of the Drivers' Championship, with the Woking-based team securing the Constructors' Championship in Singapore.
Any race-ending incident between the two drivers could open the door for Verstappen - who is 63 points behind Piastri - to contend for his fifth consecutive title in what would a nightmare scenario for McLaren, with Norris and Piastri having led between them for the entire season thus far.
Analysing the incident on YouTube channel Cameron:cc, F1 journalist Peter Windsor claims he noticed something unusual about what happened after Norris and Piastri's Singapore collision.
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Windsor, who was team principal of the defunct USF1 team during their failed attempt to join F1 in 2010, explained: "For the first time, we saw something I'd never seen before, which was asking a driver [Norris] when he thought the other car should stop.
"I'd never heard that before in my life. Lando Norris deciding on what Oscar Piastri's pit strategy could be. I couldn't believe they actually asked Lando to do that. I cannot remember that ever happening.
"It was interesting, Lando's response. I think he was shocked too. Because he was like, 'Yeah... no!' He was suddenly thinking, 'Wow, they're asking me!' And I'm not surprised that he was surprised.
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"You obviously work harmoniously between the two race engineers, you try and avoid a stacked pit stop, but you don't start asking the drivers when the other car's going to stop."
On lap 26, Norris' race engineer Will Joseph informed the Brit, who was leading the race after George Russell's pit stop, that Piastri would have to pit to prevent Ferrari's Charles Leclerc from completing the overcut on him.
Norris was then asked if he would be willing to allow Piastri to pit a lap earlier than him, which would have potentially created an overcut situation involving both McLaren drivers.
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Joseph said: "Lando, the gap to Oscar is 4.7. He's going to have to pit soon to cover Leclerc.
"Are you willing to let Oscar pit the lap before you?"
Norris replied: "Yep... no, no I wouldn't."
You can hear the team radio message, at nine minutes, below:
Usually, the team radio call is used when one driver is ahead, with his team-mate close behind - with the driver in front earning preferential treatment for their pit stops due to their track position.
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With tyre degradation relatively minor around the Singapore circuit, Norris could have theoretically given Piastri preference over the pit stop and stayed out longer himself in an attempt to make up more ground later on.
The risk there would have been a repeat of Monza, where Norris pitted significantly later than Piastri and his slow stop time, combined with Piastri's superior pace on the overcut, dropped him behind - leading to the infamous call to swap positions.
Sky commentator David Croft said: "I was surprised I heard a yes there [on lap 26]. He said yes... no. This is Monza all over again, and he's not happy to let Oscar have the first call again. And I'm not surprised to be honest, because it didn't work out for him very well at Monza and they had to swap the positions back."
Co-commentator Martin Brundle explained: "Basically, by not letting Piastri pit first it's meaning that Lando's got to get the tyres on, but he doesn't want the fuss of Monza again. It's the right time to pit."
The decision to stay out to lap 26 was initially Norris' call, as Joseph asked on lap 17 whether he wanted to stop to cover Verstappen.
Rather than Norris deciding on Piastri's strategy, therefore, he appeared instead to be simply pushing his stint as long as possible - until the point where Joseph informed him that his team-mate behind him needed to pit soon.
The issue for Piastri revolved around whether pitting too late would have seen him fall behind Leclerc, which ultimately didn't happen and he came home in fourth place.