Norris owns up to costly error: ‘All my fault’ in McLaren collision

Lando Norris offered an immediate and heartfelt apology after colliding with teammate Oscar Piastri in the tense final stages of the Canadian Grand Prix, a misjudgment that cost McLaren valuable championship points in their dual title fight.

The incident occurred on lap 67 as Norris launched a late-race attack on Piastri down the main straight. With both drivers vying for fourth place – and valuable points in a tightly contested F1 championship –the Briton misjudged a closing gap and clipped the rear of Piastri’s car, sending himself into the wall.

There was no anger or blame from Norris—just regret.

“I’m sorry,” he said over the radio as he limped away from the wreck. “All my bad. All my fault. Stupid from me.”

Though Piastri’s car sustained damage in the contact, the race concluded under safety car conditions, allowing him to limp across the line and secure fourth place.

Norris, however, was forced to retire, leaving McLaren to reflect on what could have been a stronger result for both cars.

Team Tensions and the Cost of Racing Freedom

The clash was the culmination of a hard-fought battle between the two teammates throughout the closing stages of the race. Piastri had earlier fended off a bold move from Norris into Turn 10, and both had raced closely but cleanly – until the final contact that triggered fresh scrutiny of McLaren’s team management philosophy.

McLaren has allowed its drivers relative freedom on track, with CEO Zak Brown previously stating that he expected incidents like this to eventually happen in a tight title race. Known internally as the “papaya rules,” the team's light-touch approach to driver orders will now be under fresh examination.

The result has major implications for the championship. Piastri now leads the standings by 22 points over Norris, hitting the latter’s momentum after a strong display in Spain.

Piastri: “Not Ideal... But No Bad Intentions”

Speaking after the race, Oscar Piastri confirmed Norris had taken responsibility for the crash and maintained a composed, diplomatic tone in the aftermath.

“Obviously it's not ideal for anyone but I haven't actually seen the incident, so I don't know what exactly happened,” he said in an interview with Sky Sports F1.

“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.”

Reflecting on the battle itself before the collision, Piastri defended the hard-fought nature of the contest.

“I thought it was. 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.”

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• Canadian GP: Russell wins under Safety Car as McLaren duo clash

Piastri also dismissed any suggestion of malice or intentional recklessness from his teammate.

“Again, 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.”

Looking ahead, the young Australian was clear that the team’s racing policy should remain intact.

“I don't expect this to change anything in terms of that,” he said. “We'll keep going racing through the year.”

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