Lando Norris openly acknowledged his mistake after a high-speed collision with McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri during the closing laps of the Canadian Grand Prix. The 200mph incident, described by Norris as “stupid,” has significantly impacted his championship ambitions.
The race in Montreal saw George Russell secure a commanding victory from pole position, marking his first win of the season, with Max Verstappen finishing second and young Italian driver Kimi Antonelli taking third for his maiden Formula One podium.
However, the defining moment of the 10th round of the season involved a dramatic clash between Norris and Piastri, both vying for fourth place. With just three laps remaining, Norris attempted an inside overtake on Piastri at the hairpin but was repelled. As they approached the final right-left chicane, Piastri utilized the inside line to regain position, but Norris, enjoying a stronger exit onto the main straight, tried to pass again. Unfortunately, Norris miscalculated and collided with the rear of Piastri’s car, forcing himself to retire due to damage.
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On the radio, Norris immediately took responsibility: “Are you alright, dude?” his engineer asked. “Yes, I am sorry. It’s all my bad. All my fault. Unlucky. Sorry. Stupid from me,” Norris responded.
Piastri was able to continue, ultimately finishing fourth and extending his championship lead over Norris from 10 to 22 points. Reflecting on the incident, Norris said, “Rule number one is not to make contact with your teammate, and that’s what I did. McLaren is my family, and I race for them every weekend. Letting them down like this makes me feel awful. I owe Oscar an apology; he raced me fairly and didn’t deserve that.”
Norris went further, admitting the collision would weigh on him: “I’ve let down the team, and that’s going to stay with me for a while. We’ll go back to the factory, and I know it won’t be a good moment for me because of what happened today.”
The McLaren team has long anticipated risk when running two competitive drivers, and Norris’s immediate acceptance of blame has been appreciated by Piastri. The young Australian welcomed the apology as a step towards maintaining team harmony.
“Lando has apologized to me, which means a lot,” Piastri said. “He is a good guy who always speaks honestly, even if it counts against him. It’s important we can overcome incidents like this and keep racing aggressively but fairly. This unfortunate crash on a straight won’t change how we work together as we fight for the championship.”
Despite the setback, both drivers remain focused on their title ambitions as the season progresses.