Piastri lauds Norris apology after McLaren clash at F1 Canadian GP

Oscar Piastri praised Lando Norris for his apology after the two McLaren Formula 1 drivers clashed late in the Canadian Grand Prix – and doesn’t believe it will change the team’s approach.

In the lead-up to the collision, Norris attempted to launch a handful of moves on Piastri for fourth in Montreal, but could not find a way to take advantage of his team-mate’s lack of DRS when the Australian dropped off Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s tail.

Norris briefly got past at the end of lap 66 with a lunge at the Turn 10 hairpin, but was compromised on the exit and the two went side-by-side into the final chicane.

Piastri held the inside line, but Norris attempted to pounce on the exit – yet found his car in a rapidly closing gap next to the pitwall at the start of the 67th lap.

Piastri said he hadn’t seen the incident but felt the contact and revealed Norris had apologised immediately and taken the blame.

He said that having open discussions was good for team harmony, and was happy that Norris had elected to apologise.

“I honestly haven’t seen what happened,” said championship leader Piastri. “I obviously felt a bit of a touch, but yeah, it’s an unusual place to have an incident.

“So, I still need to have a look. Lando’s apologised to me, so I guess that says a little bit, but I honestly haven’t seen much.

“Lando is a very good guy and I think it’s in his character and in his personality to say exactly what he thinks. And if that’s detrimental to himself, or if it’s about himself, then it doesn’t matter for him.

“I think that’s a great quality of Lando. I think it’s good for the whole team going forwards that we can have these conversations and go racing like this and have things not go the way we want and get through them. So, yeah, that’s all.”

Asked if he believed that McLaren would change the way that it allows its two drivers to race, Piastri responded by stating that he hoped it wouldn’t – and wanted both drivers to continue to fight each other for the 2025 F1 title.

He added that he was more disappointed by his own difficult weekend in Montreal, in which the team failed to register a podium finish for the first time this year.

“I think everything will stay the same,” said Piastri, who eventually finished fourth. “If it had been a crash in a corner and clearly we got it wrong and too aggressive, then that’s one thing.

Lando Norris, McLaren

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images via Getty Images

“But it was a bit of an unfortunate incident really on the straight, effectively. So, for me, I don’t think it will change anything and I think that’s the way it should be because ultimately we’re both trying to fight for a world championship.

“It’s still so, so long to go [in the championship] and that points gap is only if Lando wins three races and I finish second with one point in three races again. So, it’s not a comfortable margin at all and that’s not how I want to build the margin.

“This weekend wasn’t strong enough from myself. I think as a team we also recognised it was a challenging one and we need to be stronger. So, plenty of things to work on and obviously not content finishing fourth.”

Piastri now leads the F1 standings by 22 points after 10 rounds with Norris keeping second despite his late retirement at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.