“It was a misjudgement”: Oscar Piastri looks back on controversial incident with Lando Norris

McLaren drivers Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris collided at the 2025 Canadian GP, which resulted in the British driver crashing out of the race in the final 5 laps of the race. With the Austrian GP on the horizon, Piastri came out and reflected on the incident with his teammate at the last F1 race.

Lando Norris started the 2025 Canadian GP from P7 after a disappointing qualifying and moved up the grid courtesy of the tire strategy. Piastri and Norris ran P4 and P5 respectively in the final 10 laps of the race, with the Briton piling the pressure on his teammate. All this while, Oscar Piastri was also pushing to close the gap to Kimi Antonelli in P3.

With 4 laps to go, Norris dive bombed Piastri at the hairpin and the two went side by side on the back straight. Norris braked early in the final chicane to get a better exit and overtake Piastri on the start-finish straight. However, a misjudgment meant that the #4 McLaren crashed into the back of Oscar Piastri's car and ended up retiring.

As the drivers arrived for the Austrian GP, Oscar Piastri reflected on Lando Norris' crash at the Canadian GP. He said,

“The incident in Canada didn't warrant any big discussions or big decisions. It was a misjudgement from Lando that he admitted to and apologised for immediately. We knew going into this year it was probably going to be a Championship fight between me and Lando, and what would be at stake.” “Lando and I don't just want one opportunity this year to win a Championship, we want many more. We want success for years to come and having the team united is a simple way to do that,” added Oscar Piastri

Andrea Stella’s reaction to Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri's crash at the Canadian GP

Following the crash with Oscar Piastri, Lando Norris instantly came on the radio and apologised to the team for the error. The Briton accepted that it was his fault and a misjudgment that caused the collision. After the race, Norris was spotted apologising to Piastri for the collision.

F1 Grand Prix of Canada - Source: Getty

McLaren Team Principal Andrea Stella, when asked about the incident, said,

“We appreciate that Lando immediately owned it and apologised to the team, which for us sort of reset the situation. I’m sure he has an important learning point coming from this race, he paid a price in the championship. Like I said, we appreciate his behaviour straight after the accident and we will go racing again.”

Kimi Antonelli was struggling in the Mercedes and was at the risk of being overtaken by both the McLarens. However, the safety car brought out by the collision meant Piastri wasn't able to overtake the Mercedes. An even bigger implication was in the championship, as Oscar increased his lead to 22 points over Norris in P2.

Edited by pranavsethii