The Big Question: Will the gloves come off for McLaren’s drivers after Singapore?

Formula One is rife with stories of some of the fiercest rivalries being among teammates – Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna at McLaren in 1988 and 1989, Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel at Red Bull in 2013, and Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg during Mercedes’ dominant era from 2014 to 2016.

Prost and Senna had arguably the testiest of battles on the racetrack, with the fight coming to a head at the 1989 title decider at Suzuka where they collided, causing the Frenchman to retire, while Brazilian ace Senna recovered to take the chequered flag. He was later disqualified, handing Prost the championship and exacerbating their animosity.

The “papaya rules” did not apply to the McLaren duo then, unlike how it does now with Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri. And while the intra-team battle for the drivers’ championship has been unusually chummy between them for most of the season, the gloves could finally come off after the Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix.

On the opening lap at the Marina Bay Street Circuit on Oct 5, the tension between the pair finally came to a head.

From fifth on the starting grid, Norris went on the inside of his teammate, clipping the rear of Max Verstappen’s Red Bull and forcing Piastri so wide he almost collided with the wall.

A frustrated Piastri said on the team radio: “That wasn’t very team-like”, before later asking: “So, are we cool with Lando just barging me out the way?”

When he was told that the team would investigate and make a call after the Singapore race, the Australian championship leader replied: “I’m sorry. That’s not fair. If he has to avoid another car by crashing into his teammate, that’s a pretty s**t job of avoiding.”

The 24-year-old was far more diplomatic to the media post-race, after finishing fourth.

Third-placed Norris, meanwhile, was far more candid, saying any of his F1 counterparts “would have done exactly the same thing”, adding that anyone who faults him “shouldn’t be in Formula One”.

Former F1 champion Jenson Button seemed to agree with his British compatriot, saying on Sky Sports: “If I was Oscar, I would be like, ‘Ah, my teammate got the better of me there!’ And that’s it.” 

McLaren chief executive officer Zak Brown called the incident “clearly just hard racing”.

His drivers’ top-four finishes secured McLaren their 10th constructors’ title with six races remaining, and amid the celebratory champagne, team principal Andrea Stella insisted the rules of engagement between Piastri and Norris would not change, saying “we want to protect this ‘let them race’ concept”.

Sky Sports commentator and former F1 driver Martin Brundle, however, opined that “the ground rules between the two McLarens have just changed for the rest of the season”.

And it appears to be so, as major incidents between the pair this season have been more cordial.

When Norris, 25, clattered into the back of his teammate with four laps to go at June’s Canadian Grand Prix, he apologised on the team radio, calling his manoeuvre “stupid”, adding that he made “a fool of himself” with the race-ending overtake attempt.

Piastri, who finished fourth, said the apology was “good for the whole team”, adding “Lando is a very good guy and I think it’s in his character”.

Comparing their dynamic to the fractious relationship Hamilton and Rosberg shared when they battled for the drivers’ crown under his charge at Mercedes, team principal Toto Wolff said in September: “We had two different animals in the car.

“They were two fierce combatants who took no prisoners, racing against each other at times. It was very difficult to manage, but I don’t see that at McLaren.”

While Norris and Piastri’s reaction to the June collision seemed almost saccharine, there was a foreshadowing of their more testy Singaporean exchange in the subsequent months.

At the Hungaroring in August, Piastri was in the better position early in the race but Norris was granted a different race strategy which helped him beat his teammate in a McLaren one-two, “a decision insiders in rival teams have questioned”, according to the BBC.

Then, during the Italian GP in September, after a slow tyre change delayed his pit stop, Norris dropped behind Piastri, but team orders dictated that the Australian allow his teammate to overtake him to regain second place, before the team’s normal papaya rules resumed.

Piastri finished third, one place behind the Briton, although he questioned the team’s decision-making. He said: “We said a slow pit stop was part of racing. I don’t really get what changed here – but if you want me to do it, I’ll do it.”

Stella said Piastri’s comments to the team in Singapore have to be seen in the perspective of the “heat of the moment”.

While tempers seemed to have cooled after the race here, the BBC reported that behind the scenes, he was “not happy” with the incidents in the preceding months and “he and the team held talks to resolve it”.

No one is expecting the Norris-Piastri relationship to deteriorate to the levels of acrimony seen in intra-team battles of the past.

But with the constructors’ championship secured, the drivers’ title is now essentially a two-horse race between Piastri on 336 points and Norris, who is 22 points adrift.

With six grands prix and three sprint races left, in racing parlance, the title race is approaching the final straight.

As Piastri said in September of the chase for the sport’s biggest prize: “The intensity will naturally increase as we get closer to the end of the year, and I’m ready for that...

“For one of us, it’s going to be a pretty amazing time, and for the other, it’s going to be pretty painful.”

So, forget the public chumminess between these two, as the drama between Norris and Piastri in Singapore might just portend the fierce title fight to come.

As an 18-year-old Norris said in 2018 when he was promoted from reserve driver to Carlos Sainz’s teammate at McLaren: “Rule No. 1 is: Beat your teammate.”