McLaren Podium Celebration Sparks Fan Outrage, But Is Everything As It Seems?

While much of the focus after Sunday's Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix has been on the clash between McLaren teammates Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, the team will have pushed that drama to one side as it celebrates a second consecutive constructors' title.

McLaren has been the dominant force of the campaign, collecting 650 points across 18 rounds so far to accumulate exactly double the haul of second-placed Mercedes.

With Norris and Piastri finishing third and fourth, the title was confirmed to make McLaren the second most successful constructor in F1 history with 10 championships to its name.

But celebrations after the race have drawn ire from fans on social media, though not everything is as it seems. Here's why.

Singapore GP drama

McLaren mechanics watch replays of the clash between Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri at the 2025 Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix. | McLaren Racing

The team's dominance has been such that the battle for the drivers' title is largely a two-horse race between Piastri and Norris.

It's 'Papaya rules' have played a large part in keeping morale within the team healthy, with a surprisingly negligible number of flashpoints arising across the season despite the intra-team battle — going against what is the norm in such situations in F1.

When Norris hit the back of Piastri at the Canadian Grand Prix there was no drama, a swift apology from the Briton and no major complaint from the championship leader.

Then there was some controversy over team orders at the Italian Grand Prix, though the circumstances that led to a slow pitstop for Norris necessitated the orders and, while questioned by Piastri in the heat of the moment, were understood with little drama.

But in Singapore, Piastri felt aggrieved by how Norris had overtaken him at the first corner after contact with Red Bull's Max Verstappen sent the eventual podium finisher sliding into the Australian. Piastri was fortunate not to end up in the wall.

One championship down. One to go 🏆#F1 #SingaporeGP pic.twitter.com/MvAqDvYMvn
— Formula 1 (@F1) October 5, 2025

Given that the team's racing guidelines stipulate that the drivers must not crash into each other, Piastri felt that he should have been given the place back and made his feelings heard over team radio.

He had simmered by the time he reached the media pen to conduct his post-race interviews though and he was all smiles as McLaren celebrated in its team photo in the pitlane after the fact.

But it was a scene before this photo that caused consternation from fans on social media.

McLaren's podium celebration

Footage shared online showed Piastri forced to watch in the media pen as McLaren team members flocked onto the podium to celebrate its success, joined by Norris.

Given what had happened at the start of the race, conspiracy theories began to be told of how the squad was favoring Norris and leaving Piastri in the cold, despite his ascendancy in the drivers' standings.

However, in an explanation from McLaren given to Grand Prix on SI, it has been revealed that the situation was created out of an unfortunate set of circumstances.

F1 had wanted to make the most of McLaren's success and invited the team onto the podium for a hastily prepared celebration.

This wasn't initially a part of McLaren's plans and neither was it for Norris to be a part of this either. But it is understood that the team crossed paths with him after the original podium ceremony had finished and that the Briton was essentially forced to be a part of the celebration.

As explained, the original plan was for the entire team to celebrate together with the team photograph in the pitlane - which did eventually happen with Piastri included.

The idea that the podium celebration was sprung out of nowhere can be corroborated by the fact neither team principal Andrea Stella nor CEO Zak Brown were present either. Like Piastri, both were fulfilling media duties by talking to world broadcasters whilst their team members had made their way to the rostrum.

Another clip doing the rounds on social media appears to show Piastri pull the plug on his team radio system in parc ferme while Brown was talking to him and congratulating his efforts as part of the title triumph.

But it has been confirmed that this was not the case and that Piastri had already switched the car off before Brown had begun talking and therefore never heard him.

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