Lando Norris takes full blame for 'silly' crash with team-mate in Canadian GP

A visibly contrite Lando Norris issued an unequivocal apology to both Oscar Piastri and the entire McLaren organization, shouldering complete blame for the "silly" collision between the team-mates during the Canadian Grand Prix. The incident marked the first on-track contact between the two McLarens in their intense title duel this year – an eventuality that even the team's management had previously conceded was almost inevitable.

With just four laps remaining and amidst a tense battle at the front of the Montreal race, the two Papaya cars made contact while fighting fiercely for fourth position down the pit straight. Having already swapped positions on the preceding lap, Norris attempted to re-pass Piastri on the inside of the main straight. However, he severely misjudged the maneuver, clipping Piastri's rear tyre and subsequently careening into the pit wall, suffering immediate race-ending damage.

While Piastri's car also sustained damage, the young Australian was fortunate enough to pit under the ensuing Safety Car period and managed to hold onto his hard-fought fourth place.

Norris's immediate reaction over the McLaren team radio was one of profound regret: "I'm sorry. All my bad. All my fault. Stupid from me." This sentiment was echoed in his post-race interviews, where he personally apologized to Piastri.

'No one to blame but myself'

Speaking to Sky Sports F1, Norris stated, "No one to blame but myself, so I apologize to the whole team and to Oscar as well for attempting something probably a bit too silly. Glad I didn't ruin his race. In the end apologies to the team." He further emphasized to the written media, "Rule number one is not to make contact with your team-mate, and that's what I did. McLaren is my family and I race for them every single weekend... So when I let them down like this and make a fool of myself like I did today, I have a lot of regret. I'm not proud of myself, I feel bad, so apologies to all of them."

McLaren chief executive Zak Brown had foreshadowed such an incident as early as April's Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, remarking that it was "definitely a matter of when, rather than if" his two drivers would eventually clash on track. Despite this internal expectation, Norris himself described the incident as "just more silly. This wasn't even like a 'that's racing', it was just silly from my part."

The unfortunate event resulted in Norris's first race retirement since last June's Austrian Grand Prix, causing him to fall 22 points behind Piastri in the Drivers' Championship standings.

From his perspective, Piastri acknowledged that the collision was "obviously not ideal for anyone" at McLaren, even though it ultimately did not cost him his fourth place. "But if Lando has taken full responsibility then that's how it goes I guess. Just a bit of a tricky race in general and not an ideal finish," he added.

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The McLarens had begun the race with Piastri in third and Norris in seventh. In the closing stages, they found themselves in a three-way tussle for third with Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli. On an alternative tyre strategy, Norris was the faster McLaren in the final stint, catching and overtaking Piastri with a bold move at the hairpin on lap 63. Piastri then drafted back past Norris on the subsequent back straight, leading to the contact halfway down the next shorter straight.

Piastri, not having fully reviewed the incident, commented: "He made quite a large move into Turn 10, held my own into the chicane, and it was definitely a tough battle but a clean one up until that point. I don't think there were any bad intentions involved, I think it was just unfortunate really. I'll go and have a look obviously but we're both fighting for a world championship and am very thankful to the team that they allow us to race. I don't expect this to change anything in terms of that. We'll keep going racing through the year."

Sky Sports F1 pundit Nico Rosberg found Norris's move "very strange" and a "big mistake," noting there was "no gap there." Danica Patrick suggested it might have been born out of "desperation" given the season's unfolding dynamic, adding that Norris "ran out of room."