Lando Norris crashes after battling with teammate Oscar Piastri at the Canadian Grand Prix.
A contrite Lando Norris apologised to Oscar Piastri and McLaren after accepting total blame for the “silly” collision with his team-mate in Canadian Grand Prix.
For the first time in their title duel this year in the kind of incident that even the team’s management have previously admitted was inevitable, the two McLarens made contact as they battled over fourth place down the pit straight with four laps to go amid a tense finish at the front in Montreal.
Having swapped positions once already at the end of the previous lap, Norris attempted to re-pass Piastri down the inside of the main straight but badly misjudged the move – hitting his team-mate’s rear tyre and crashing into the pit wall, sustaining immediate race-ending damage.
Piastri’s car also sustained damage, although the Australian able to pit under the subsequent Safety Car and hold on to fourth place.
Norris immediately took the blame on McLaren team radio, saying: “I’m sorry. All my bad. All my fault. Stupid from me.”
He struck a similar tone in his post-race interviews in the pen, where he apologised in person to Piastri.
Speaking to Sky Sports F1, Norris said: “No one to blame but myself, so I apologise 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.”
Then speaking to the written media, Norris added: “Rule number one is not to make contact with your team-mate, and that’s what I did,” said Norris.
“McLaren is my family and I race for them every single weekend and try and do well for them on and off the track. 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 said as long ago as the season’s fifth round at April’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix that it was “definitely a matter of when, rather than if” his two drivers could come together on track.
However, while an incident may have been expected internally, Norris still admitted: “This was just more silly. This wasn’t even like a ‘that’s racing’, it was just silly from my part.”
While the collision ultimately did not cost him the fourth place he had occupied for most of the race, Piastri acknowledged that “obviously it’s not ideal for anyone”.
He added: “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.”
The McLarens had started fourth places apart on the grid with Piastri in third and Norris seventh but entered the closing stages of the race in what became a three-way fight with Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli for third place.
On an alternative tyre strategy to his team-mate after a longer first stint on hard tyres, Norris was the quicker McLaren in the closing stint and after catching his team-mate overtook Piastri with a bold move down the inside of the hairpin on lap 63.
Piastri then drafted back past Norris down the subsequent back straight before, with the cars then making contact halfway down the next shorter straight.
“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,” said Piastri on the lead-up to the crash.
“I’ve not seen the incident, but 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.”
