Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri insist there are no changes to McLaren’s rules of engagement after “good” conversations about their collision in Canada.
Norris, who is 22 points behind Piastri in the Drivers’ Championship coming into this weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix, ran into the back of his team-mate in Montreal and retired from the race.
Team principal Andrea Stella stated he wanted “better judgement” from his drivers following the collision.
“There’s been a good understanding of everything, realising my thoughts and understanding things from both my side and explaining that to the team,” said Norris.
“I think I made it clear from the immediate moment that I misjudged it and I took the fault from it. Of course, it was not the most joyful conversations, but conversations that needed to be had clearly because it’s not just about myself, it’s how we perform as a team. We all know what rule number one was and continues and always will be.
“Many things have come out stronger than they were prior to Canada, which you might not expect. Through unfortunate circumstances a lot has been learned a lot of things have turned into being stronger.”
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Jenson Button believes Lando Norris will be able to mentally move past the Oscar Piastri crash
Piastri, whose eight consecutive podiums run came to an end after he finished fourth in Montreal, says he and Norris are “still free to race” and will “make sure” they do not collide again.
“I don’t think it will change anything. For me, I certainly won’t do anything different,” he added.
“If Lando’s going to do anything different, that’s for him to answer, but I don’t expect anything to change. We’ve still got a long season ahead of us. I think it’s going to be a tight battle for the rest of the year.”
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Martin Brundle believes Lando Norris still has a great chance to win the Drivers’ Championship, but must perform every weekend
Norris accepted blame for the incident with Piastri immediately and thinks him taking accountability “set a good example” for McLaren.
“My team means everything to me, the people that I’ve grown up with, the people who have given me opportunity in Formula 1, and I want to win with McLaren,” he continued.
“Because it was with my team-mate was the most painful thing for me because it’s the last thing I want.
“I felt bad, very bad for the team. A tough couple of days but it’s something I got better at dealing with, speaking to Andrea and Zak [Brown]and the team, to move on as quickly as possible was very important.”
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Watch from Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri’s 360-degree onboard camera as Norris crashed into his McLaren team-mate during the Canada Grand Prix
Norris: McLaren may struggle in Austria qualifying as Piastri reveals upgrades
Even without the collision, Piastri and Norris were on course to not finish on the podium in Canada – the first time a McLaren driver has not been in the top three this season.
The British driver says “some of our main competitors have caught up” in the hot conditions, with more warm weather forecast for the Austrian Grand Prix.
“Austria has been one of our best tracks in the past, but it’s also been a very good one for Red Bull and for Max,” said Norris, who took his maiden F1 podium in Spielberg.
“They have an advantage on us in high-speed corners, which there are a good amount of here, so we expect to be good, but maybe struggle a little bit in qualifying, comparing to some of our competitors.”
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Reigning F1 Academy champion Abbi Pulling believes Lando Norris’ move on McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri was ‘desperate’ but he showed maturity in taking accountability right away
Piastri and Norris ran different front suspensions in Montreal, with the Australian driver choosing to use the old one.
Ferrari and Red Bull have confirmed they will have upgrades this weekend, but so will Constructors’ Championship leaders McLaren.
“We got taken by surprise a little bit that we weren’t as strong as we hoped in Canada, but hopefully it’s a one-off,” said Piastri.
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Oscar Piastri revealed ahead of the Austrian Grand Prix that everything is all good with Lando Norris after his team-mate apologised after colliding in Canada
“By the time we got to qualifying, I think we were in a better place and in the race, our pace was actually not bad, just we qualified a bit further back.
“I think we kind of understand what went wrong in Canada. So, we’ll try and have a better weekend here, but I’m confident we’ll be back on top form.
He added: “We do have some new parts, yes. I think some bits at the front of the car, and hopefully it makes us quicker. That’s normally the plan.”
Sky Sports F1’s Austrian GP schedule
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Look back at some of the most dramatic moments throughout the years at the Austrian Grand Prix
Friday June 27
8.50am: F3 Practice
10am: F2 Practice
12pm: Austrian GP Practice One (session starts at 12.30pm)*
1.55pm: F3 Qualifying*
2.50pm: F2 Qualifying*
3.35pm: Austrian GP Practice Two (session starts at 4pm)*
5.15pm: The F1 Show*
Saturday June 28
9am: f3 sprint
11.15pm: Austrian GP Practice Three (session starts at 11.30am)
1.10pm: F2 Sprint
2.15pm: Austrian GP Qualifying build-up*
3pm: AUSTRIAN GP QUALIFYING*
5pm: Ted’s Qualifying Notebook
Sunday June 29
7.25am: F3 Feature Race
8.55am: F2 Feature Race
10.40am: Porsche Supercup
12.30pm: Grand Prix Sunday: Austrian GP build-up*
2pm: THE AUSTRIAN GRAND PRIX*
4pm: Chequered Flag: Austrian GP reaction*
5pm: Ted’s Notebook
*also on Sky Sports Main Event
Next up for the 2025 Formula 1 season is a return to Europe for the Austrian Grand Prix, which is live on Sky Sports F1 this weekend. Stream Sky Sports with NOW – no contract, cancel anytime.
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