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Lando Norris has brushed off suggestions that McLaren would prioritise his teammate Oscar Piastri in the world championship fight after a resurgent Max Verstappen has emerged as a rival contender.
Norris said the Dutchman was now in a position to defend his title, as the drivers prepare for what is likely to be the most gruelling meeting of the year in Singapore. The FIA has already declared a “heat hazard” race as temperatures and humidity have soared.
Norris trails Piastri by 25 points in the drivers’ championship but Verstappen has won the past two grands prix and closed to 69 points behind the Australian.
“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.
“In Baku we had the car to win and we didn’t. At the round before in Monza they were too quick for us and if there are some races coming up where he is too fast, which is very possible, because I expect them to be quick for many of the races this season …”
McLaren have been fair so far in allowing their drivers to race and their team principal, Andrea Stella, has maintained that would remain so unless they had to favour one driver in order to guarantee the drivers’ championship, which would be their first since Lewis Hamilton’s in 2008.
Norris, however, dismissed concerns about team orders with disdain. “I’m very concerned, yeah,” he said sarcastically. “Very worried about it and scared, frankly. I was happy you asked that … Actually, No.”
With ambient temperatures forecasted to reach 31C over the weekend and humidity at more than 70%, the Marina Bay circuit has been declared a “heat hazard” by race director, Rui Marques, under new rules instigated this year.
As a result all teams will have to fit systems which allow drivers to wear cooling vests in the cockpit. The vests, which comprise of a series of tubes that let a coolant to flow around the upper body, are not mandatory however, with some drivers finding them uncomfortable.
Those who opt not to wear them will have to take on 0.5kg of ballast to ensure weight parity across the grid. Singapore has repeatedly been the longest race of the season, often running to the two hour maximum and represents a singular challenge. The track’s 19 corners are interrupted only sparsely by small straights, with drivers enduring forces of up to 5G, combined with a punishing, relentless series of braking zones. Amid which temperatures in the cockpit can rise to over 50C.
“The [vest] 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,” said George Russell, who is a director of the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association.
