McLaren engaged in new discussions following the incident at the Singapore GP, with Lando Norris vowing to "make improved choices."

Photo: Motorsport.com

Lando Norris has acknowledged that he must make "better choices" as McLaren seeks to move past his incident with teammate Oscar Piastri in Singapore.

Norris faced criticism from team management for his attempt to overtake Piastri in pursuit of fourth place during the Singapore sprint race, which resulted in both drivers being taken out and cost the team crucial points in the championship, contradicting the team's racing principles.

Team principal Andrea Stella mentioned following the Singapore race that further discussions would take place at the Woking factory to prevent a recurrence. It is reported that those discussions occurred last week, and the team is eager to move forward from the incident as Norris expressed remorse for his misjudgment.

“I accept accountability for my errors, and I learn from them," Norris was quoted in the team’s preview for the United States Grand Prix. "This team motivates me every weekend, and my goal is to repay the dedication everyone puts in by improving, making wiser choices, and representing the team in the best way possible.”

Norris's incident with his teammate compounded what had already been a challenging triple-header, as McLaren struggled to match the substantial performance enhancements Red Bull had integrated into its car, resulting in back-to-back victories for Max Verstappen in Malaysia and Singapore.

"Following a challenging triple-header, we will apply the lessons learned from both our performance and execution," Stella added. "In F1, success is never assured – thus our approach is to continue building, developing, and pushing forward together as a unified team."

Lando Norris, McLaren, Oscar Piastri, McLaren

McLaren introduces latest wave of upgrades after performance disappoints

McLaren also brought its own upgrades to the MCL40, and while it was perplexed by its lack of performance in Malaysia, Singapore further highlighted that, although its upgrades seemed effective, it had simply been outpaced by Red Bull, while Ferrari also demonstrated considerable strength on the high-downforce street layout of Singapore, and Mercedes has improved its performance as well.

McLaren is set to introduce its latest round of relatively minor enhancements to the car at this weekend's race in Austin, primarily focusing on the front end, as it hopes the Circuit of the Americas will be more favorable to its car compared to Baku and Singapore. Additional adjustments have also been made to boost driver confidence during braking.

"We’re bringing a modest array of upgrades for this event, aimed at enhancing some reliability and performance issues related to braking," said chief designer Rob Marshall. "We also have some minor floor modifications to assess.

"We have all witnessed how challenging it is to forecast the relative performance of the leading teams over the past five or six races. Clearly, numerous factors are at play: car upgrades, specific circuit preferences, and driver likes among other elements. The last few races have not been ideal for us, but I believe we’re regaining strength and Austin is likely a more suitable circuit for our car."