McLaren must “establish the rules” after F1 Canadian GP clash

Mercedes Formula 1 boss Toto Wolff has said McLaren must “establish the rules” after its drivers collided during the Canadian Grand Prix on Sunday.

Lando Norris was hunting down his McLaren team-mate and title rival Oscar Piastri in Montreal and attempted to overtake in a closing gap.

It resulted in Norris tagging the rear of Piastri before hitting the pitwall and immediately retiring with four laps remaining, while the Australian finished fourth to extend his title advantage to 22 points.

McLaren revealed ‘conversations will be had’ having opted against establishing a clear ‘number one driver’, allowing Piastri and Norris to race each other wheel-to-wheel whenever the situation occurs.

But Wolff reckons boundaries need to be set, having managed a toxic relationship between former Mercedes pair Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg as they fought for the F1 title from 2014 to 2016. 

“Well, I’ve seen the movie and I was right in there as an actor,” said Wolff, whose drivers collided on various occasions, most notably the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix.

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG F1 W07 Hybrid and Nico Rosberg, Mercedes AMG F1 W07 Hybrid collide on the opening lap

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

“It’s difficult because it’s what drivers are calibrated to and conditioned to: win championships. Particularly when you’re coming to Formula 1. I think the trick is here to establish the rules. Establish how do we want to go about it.”

The current McLaren situation holds some similarities to when Hamilton and Rosberg were team-mates, as the British outfit is the dominant force like Mercedes was back then. 

But, while Hamilton and Rosberg had a fractious and complicated relationship which dated back to their karting days, Norris and Piastri are much calmer with the Australian quickly accepting his team-mate’s apology. 

“It obviously increases the complexity if the constructors’ championship is in your hands too,” added Wolff.

“You could always argue, well, we need to win the constructors’ championship, we need to score these points. But in that case, they [McLaren] are so far ahead that it’s not even a question whether they will win that.

“So it’s certainly a tricky situation. The characters are very different than they were with us.

“It’s about strong management to learn that. But we were learning by doing and I’m sure that these guys will get on top of that.”