Lando Norris has played down suggestions that McLaren would prioritise his teammate Oscar Piastri in the world championship fight, as Max Verstappen emerges as a genuine title contender. Norris trails Piastri by 25 points in the drivers' standings, while Verstappen has closed to 69 points behind the Australian after winning the past two grands prix.
“He is genuinely a challenger,” Norris said of Verstappen. “If you go back to the beginning of the season they were challenging us for the first six or seven races for wins, then we brought some upgrades and improved a little bit. Then they brought a couple of upgrades and that has put them on the same level.”
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has maintained that the team will allow their drivers to race unless they need to favour one for the drivers' championship, which would be their first since Lewis Hamilton's in 2008. Norris dismissed concerns about team orders with sarcasm, saying, “I’m very concerned, yeah. Very worried about it and scared, frankly.”
The Singapore Grand Prix is expected to be the most gruelling meeting of the year, with temperatures forecast to reach 31C and humidity above 70%. Race director Rui Marques has declared the Marina Bay circuit a “heat hazard” under new rules, requiring teams to fit cooling vests for drivers. The vests, which circulate coolant around the upper body, are not mandatory, but those who opt out must carry 0.5kg of ballast.
George Russell, a director of the Grand Prix Drivers' Association, welcomed the vests: “The concept is good and when you’re racing in 90% humidity and the cockpits are getting on for 60C, it’s a bit of a sauna inside the car, so I think we all welcome it.”
