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

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