Lando Norris: What is the most likely “marginal” sporting sanction imposed by McLaren on the British driver for the collision with Oscar Piastri? | F1 News

McLaren caused a media storm at the United States Grand Prix by refusing to reveal details of a sporting penalty that will be levied on Lando Norris for a collision with title rival and teammate Oscar Piastri in Singapore.

McLaren chief executive Zak Brown and team principal Andrea Stella said after the race in Singapore that they saw no reason to act following the first-lap pass, but Norris stunned the paddock in Austin on Thursday by revealing he would face “repercussions” that could impact him for the rest of the season.

The Briton is 22 points behind Piastri with six rounds remaining in the 2025 season, with the unknown sanction appearing to strengthen his task of tracking down the Australian.

Through two separate interviews with Sky Sports F1 At the Circuit of the Americas on Friday, Brown confirmed that the sanctions imposed on Norris would be “marginal” and said the team would have “no interference” at a grand prix on Sunday.

The team's refusal to confirm the exact nature of the sanctions leads to huge uncertainty ahead of the Sprint event, Sky Sports F1 have gathered the information shared by McLaren to assess what Norris' most likely punishment will be.

What did Brown say to Sky?

Addressing the Sky Sports F1 From the McLaren pit wall during the weekend's only free practice session in Austin, Brown said the sanction was “a bit of a sporting repercussion instead of what happened.”

Pressed for details, he replied: “It's marginal, it's consistent with what happened. It's a racing incident at the end of the day, at the start of a Grand Prix on a slightly wet track. It wasn't intentional.”

“It's very marginal. It probably won't be noticed. Lando and Oscar know what it's about, and that's what's most important.

“Of course we want to be transparent with our fans. We do it the hard way, trying to let both guys race for the championship. The easiest solution would be to have a one and two, like some teams do, but that's now how McLaren wants to race.”

Brown was also asked, in a separate interview, to clarify Norris' suggestion on Thursday that the penalty could affect him until the end of the season.

In a somewhat contradictory response, Brown said: “It's a one-time thing, but maybe not just one race.”

Sky Sports F1 Ted Kravitz then asked Brown if he could reassure McLaren fans that the team would not interfere with racing on a Sunday.

Brown said there would be “no interference” on a Sunday, before adding: “We want them to race. We're excited. We treat them very equal, very fair.”

“I understand that everyone who watches has a point of view, that’s a good thing in sport, but I can tell everyone that we let them race hard, fair and square, on a Sunday afternoon.”

What could the punishment be?

Although Brown did not explicitly confirm the nature of the sanction, he appeared to imply that the sanction would take place on a Saturday rather than a Sunday.

This brings into play a possible procedural advantage for Piastri in qualifying, such as being able to choose whether he goes out before or after Norris for crucial races.

Teams without a clear No. 1 driver would typically alternate this privilege from race to race, so McLaren could give it this advantage in the next two races, for example, before reverting to alternation.

Piastri came out of the pit lane after Norris for their only flying laps in the final part of Sprint qualifying in Austin on Friday, but Norris was quicker as he took second behind Verstappen with Piastri third.

Sky Sports F1's Martin Brundle also speculated that Piastri could be favored if McLaren brings in new parts before the end of the season.

“It will have something to do with a procedure that I imagine gives Piastri an advantage over Norris,” Brundle said. “That’s the deal they’ll have made.

“You can race from lights out to the checkered flag, the only rule is you can’t pass each other.

“It could be a slipstream, maybe Norris will have to tow Piastri at some circuits, maybe if a new wing comes in a driver will get it.

“But they will not do anything that compromises the overall performance of the team and both drivers against the opposition, especially with Max Verstappen cruising in their rearview mirrors in the championship.”

Why is McLaren taking this approach?

While there is confusion in the paddock over McLaren sanctioning Norris for what many, including Singapore's stewards, deemed to be a fair racing maneuver, the team says the decision was made after consultation with the framework agreed at the start of the season.

Stella said on Friday: “Repercussions or consequences are part of our framework. It's something that both drivers wanted to have as part of the race.”

Perhaps more confusing to onlookers is the decision to announce the sanctions but refuse to share details.

Whether or not one agrees with Norris' punishment, surely it would have made more sense for the team to publicly state that the issue was handled internally, and that was that.

Instead, the entire paddock is trying to determine what penalty Norris is facing and how significant it could prove to be in the title race.

It's worth noting that it was Norris who was the first to tell the media that he was facing “repercussions.” It is therefore also possible that he alone chose to share this detail, rather than having been agreed by all team members to discuss the measurements publicly.

Brundle ultimately concluded that McLaren was paying the price for choosing to have two No.1 drivers.

He said: “The whole system is doomed to fail. You have two extremely competitive athletes in a team environment, as employees and the last link in the chain representing 1,500 people. They are paid as employees but at the end of the day they are on the track as individuals, so of course it is going to go wrong.

“McLaren chooses to handle things that way. Some would say, and I would say to some extent, that the regulations cover that and if you crash into each other you get penalties or punctures. That's how McLaren decided to go into racing.”

“The drivers know this general philosophy with Andrea Stella and Zak Brown which has taken them from last in the field at the start of 2023 to back-to-back champions.

“Both pilots are smart enough to know that the whole system works really well, but it seems a little clunky because people don't understand what's going on.”

Sky Sports F1 US GP Live Schedule

Saturday October 18
5:00 p.m.: preparation for the United States GP Sprint
6 p.m.: US SPRINT GP
7 p.m.: Ted's sprint log
9 p.m.: preparation for qualifying for the United States GP*
10 p.m.: US GP QUALIFYING*
00:00 (Sunday morning): Ted's qualification log*

Sunday October 19
6:30 p.m.: Sunday Grand Prix: preparation for the United States GP*
8 p.m.: THE UNITED STATES GRAND PRIX*
10 p.m.: Checkered flag: reaction from the United States GP
11 p.m.: Ted’s notebook

*also live on Sky Sports Main Event

Formula 1 is in North America for the United States Grand Prix in Austin this weekend, live on Sky Sports F1. Stream Sky Sports with NOW – no contract, cancel anytime