Lando Norris in ‘a comfortable place’ after sanctions removed by McLaren

By Scott Hunt, PA F1 Reporter, Mexico City

Lando Norris is happy that his title challenge is no longer hindered by consequences placed on him by McLaren and says he feels in a “comfortable place”.

McLaren imposed the unspecified “consequences” on Norris after he banged wheels with team-mate and championship leader Oscar Piastri in Singapore.

But the papaya pair collided in more dramatic fashion at the following round in Austin, with Piastri turning into Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg at the first corner of the sprint before crashing into Norris and wiping the pair of them out.

The team have once again reviewed that incident and Piastri admitted on Thursday that he had taken a “degree of responsibility” for the crash and that the slate had been wiped clean and Norris’ “consequences” removed.

Norris refused to shed any more light on what those sporting consequences were but admits their removal will help his title challenge.

“Better. Better for my interests,” Norris said.

“Not sure relieved is the right word. It wasn’t like I was sweating before but it gives me better chances in places.

“It was certainly a disadvantage. I would never choose it.”

In his immediate reaction to the crash in Austin, Norris felt Piastri was blameless although the majority of pundits believed the Australian had caused the collision.

Norris would not reveal whether he had changed his view on what happened during the review, adding: “I think the point of it now being equal between us, I think it says enough about what the result was.”

McLaren’s strive to keep the championship race totally fair to both drivers has been placed under further pressure by the emergence of Max Verstappen into the title picture.

When Piastri won in Zandvoort at the end of August – where Norris’ engine blew up in the closing stages – he held a 34-point lead over his team-mate and was a massive 104 clear of Verstappen.

The Dutchman has won three of the four races since to close within 40 points of the lead and much of the discussion is around his charge for a fifth successive title.

But Norris has beaten Piastri at every race since his reliability issue in the Netherlands to cut his deficit to just 14 points ahead of this weekend’s Mexican Grand Prix.

“I’m in a good position. I’m second. Probably prefer being first but I’m also in second with nothing to lose,” Norris added.

“I’m in a comfortable place. I’m also not a guy who believes in momentum. Every weekend is so different.

“I’ve just been performing well recently and I’ll continue that. Same as Max has been doing very well recently.”