Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri made contact during the Singapore Grand Prix - Photo: Race Pictures

F1 race winner backs Norris after bold move on Piastri

15:58, 08 Oct

Updated: 17:47, 08 Oct

1 Comments

bySamson Ero

Johnny Herbert has defended Lando Norris following his move on Oscar Piastri at the Singapore Grand Prix.

“I don't think there was anything wrong with what Lando did.”

- Johnny Herbert

The former Benetton driver, who spoke via a gambling website, detailed that he sees no wrong with the lunge Norris made on his teammate. Herbert also doubled down on his claim, stating it was part of racing.

“I don't think there was anything wrong with what Lando did. Yes, there was a little bit of rubbing each other, but that's racing.

"Oscar is very aware that's racing because in Monza, when they were told to switch, I think he said,’ That’s not racing.’”

The 61-year-old further dubbed Norris’ move as hard racing, in what appeared to be in line with the words of the British driver when he weighed in on the situation following the race.

norris-piastri-collision-mclaren-singapore-gp-f1

Lando Norris collided with Oscar Piastri at the start of the Singapore GP. Photo: RacePictures.

“In Singapore, that's a part and parcel of racing, and you've got to race hard. We know Max [Verstappen] will race hard; [Ayrton] Senna and all the greats of the sport raced hard.”

The Singapore Grand Prix witnessed Norris make an overtake on Piastri, who had started two places ahead of him. The McLaren pair did make contact on the opening lap – after which Piastri asked about swapping the positions back over the team radio.

Herbert: ‘That was a good piece of racing’

Herbert, also explained how Norris had to make that move, especially when the title is involved. The three-time F1 race winner concluded by highlighting how he considers it a good piece of racing.

“To win and to get yourself in a situation to win a championship, sometimes you've got to be tough. Lando has been criticised in the past for maybe not being tough enough.”

“That was a good piece of racing. To be honest, the guy who put himself in that position was Piastri himself, because he got close to Max, which ran him a little bit wide, and he lost a bit of momentum, which allowed Lando to go down the inside but then round the outside and on the inside of turn three."

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