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lando norris Happy that his title challenge is no longer hampered by the consequences imposed on him by McLaren and says he feels in a “comfortable place”.
McLaren imposes unspecified “consequences” on Norris after assault with team-mate and championship leader oscar piastri In Singapore,
But in the next round the Papaya pair clashed more dramatically. AustinPiastri turned into Sauber’s Nico Hülkenberg at the first corner of the sprint and collided with Norris, wiping out the pair of them.
The team has once again reviewed the incident and Piastri admitted on Thursday that he took “some responsibility” for the crash and the slate was wiped clean and Norris’ “consequences” were removed.
Norris declined to shed any further light on those game results, but admitted removing them would help their title challenge.
“Better. Better for my interests,” Norris said.
“Definitely relieved is not the right word. It wasn’t like I was sweating before but it gives me better chances in some places.
“It was definitely a loss. I would never choose it.”
In his immediate reaction to the crash in Austin, Norris felt that Piastri was innocent, although most pundits believed Australian Had caused the collision.
Norris did not reveal whether he had changed his view on what happened during the review, saying: “I think we now have an even keel, I think that says a lot about what the outcome was.”
McLaren’s effort to keep the championship race completely fair for both drivers has been put under further pressure by the emergence of Max Verstappen into the title picture.
When Piastri won at Zandvoort in late August – where Norris’s engine failed in the closing stages – he opened up a 34-point lead over his teammate and a massive 104 points over Verstappen.
The Dutchman has since won three of the four races and closed to within 40 points of the lead and much of the talk is around his bid for a fifth consecutive title.
But Norris has beaten Piastri in every race since his reliability issues in the Netherlands and has reduced his deficit to just 14 points ahead of this weekend’s Mexican Grand Prix.
Norris said, “I’m in good shape. I’m in second place. Probably would have liked to be in first place but there’s nothing to lose and I’m in second place.”
“I’m in a comfortable place. I’m also not a person who believes in speed. Every weekend is very different.
“I have been performing well recently and I will continue to do so. Max has also been performing very well recently.”