Alpine's Pierre Gasly compared the stewards' verdict to football refereeing decisions, stating: "We've got stewards for that. They made up their minds. Whatever the ref says, the ref is right." He was reacting to the decision not to penalise Lando Norris for a late-race collision with Oscar Piastri on the final lap of the sprint race at the Singapore Grand Prix.
The McLaren drivers were running fourth and fifth behind Charles Leclerc, whose intermediate tyres were degrading, when Lando Norris dived down the inside at Turn 5. The cars collided, spinning Oscar Piastri into the barrier, while Lando Norris recovered to finish eighth ahead of Pierre Gasly.
Franco Colapinto and Nico Hulkenberg
Following a three-hour investigation, the stewards deemed it a racing incident where neither driver was predominantly at fault. Pierre Gasly admitted he would have gained a championship point had Lando Norris received a penalty, pointing out inconsistencies given his teammate Franco Colapinto was penalised for an incident in Azerbaijan.
In Baku, Franco Colapinto hit Pierre Gasly at a safety car restart, which also collected Lando Norris and dropped Alpine Team out of the points. Although Alpine management was furious, telemetry showed Franco Colapinto only braked slightly harder than normal. Meanwhile, another intra-team clash involving Racing Bulls drivers Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad also went unpenalised.
The stewards explained that both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri contributed to the Singapore incident due to positioning and available space, resulting in no further action.
Pierre Gasly: 10th position, 41 points
Source: Motorsport
