McLaren should now let Norris and Piastri duke it out

That is because McLaren teammates Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri clashed at the start of the race, going into Turn 1, as the former was trying to make his way past his teammate and Max Verstappen to take second.

Piastri, on the other hand, got off worse, as Norris bumped into him trying to avoid a bigger hit with Verstappen—his front wing got damaged after touching the Dutchman's car.

The Australian went on and on over the radio about how Norris' move was not fair, demanding the team take action, which did not happen, leaving him bitter, as he did not even bother to respond to Zak Brown over the team radio towards the end of the race—whether that was a technical radio error remains to be seen.

And while Piastri had no right asking McLaren to order Norris to give the position back, the Woking squad have dug themselves down this hole with the way they have managed their drivers so far.

Their orders in Monza for Piastri to let Norris through after the Briton suffered a bad pit stop while leading his teammate have sparked controversy, and many have considered such orders as wrong, not to mention the consensus that Norris is getting preferential treatment by McLaren, aka Zak Brown.

With the Singapore Grand Prix now behind us, all the talk about a friendly Title fight between Norris and Piastri is now history, as the gloves are now off—at least this is what both drivers' body language said, and regardless of how many times Andrea Stella insists Papaya Rules will still apply.

Martin Brundle, the former F1 driver and respected pundit, is one of those believing Norris' and Piastri's relationship has now turned a corner.

In his post-Singapore column on Sky Sports F1, he wrote: "I have no doubt whatsoever that the dynamics between the two McLaren drivers will irrevocably change going forward. It was just a matter of time."

But the veteran of 158 Grands Prix insists the McLaren pit wall should let their drivers slug it out, especially as the Constructors' Title is in the bag, albeit with some restrictions.

He added: "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," he explained.