Lando Norris admits to ‘not the most joyful' talks after Oscar Piastri clash

Times

a day ago

Lando Norris has admitted that conversations with his McLaren team were 'not the most joyful' after colliding with his team-mate Oscar Piastri and failing to finish the Canadian Grand Prix.
Andrea Stella, the team principal, said that 'tough' talks would be had in the days following that race and before arriving here in Austria, after Norris had broken McLaren's most important rule: that their drivers would not make contact with one another.
Battling for fourth on the pit straight, four laps from the end of the race this month, Norris drove into the back of his Australian team-mate in a misjudged attempt to find a gap that did not exist. Damage meant the Briton had to retire, while Piastri continued, miraculously unscathed.
'There's been good understanding of everything, realising my thoughts and understanding things from both my side and explaining that to the team,' Norris said. 'But I made it clear from the immediate moment that I misjudged it and I took the fault for it. Of course, not the most joyful conversations, but conversations that needed to be had clearly and obviously from us as a team, because it's not just about myself, it is how we perform as a team and we all know what rule No1 was [to not crash] and [that] continues and will always be.
'In the unfortunate way, but a good way, I think many things have come out stronger than I would say they were prior to the weekend, which you might not expect, but is a good outcome.'
Both drivers insist that the 'papaya rules' or team orders, as such, will not change and both will be free to race and battle for the championship. Before the Austrian Grand Prix, Piastri leads the drivers' championship by 22 points from his team-mate, with Max Verstappen third, 43 points adrift of Piastri.
'Lando put his hands up and apologised, so it's all good and I'm looking forward to going racing again,' Piastri said. 'Obviously what happened in Canada wasn't ideal but we're still free to race, still fighting for a championship each, so we'll keep going racing and make sure that, obviously, we don't come into contact again. It's a difficult one to navigate, but that's a good problem to have in some ways.'
Norris is optimistic that this circuit, which is one of his favourites, will be as good as any in his bid to rebuild his confidence and close that gap to his team-mate with 14 rounds still to go.
In the run-up to the Austrian Grand Prix the FIA has, for the first time, publicly released its penalty and driving standards guidelines, which the stewards use to form the basis of their decision-making (although ultimately they are only a guide rather than rules). It is the FIA's latest bid to increase transparency, which has been one of the main criticisms of Mohammed Ben Sulayem's presidency.
Elsewhere, Franco Colapinto, the Alpine driver, has praised Lewis Hamilton for offering a lift back from the Spanish Grand Prix on his private jet. The seven-times world champion posted a message in the F1 drivers' WhatsApp group chat after the race in Barcelona, having had free seats on his jet. Colapinto, who was due to fly back with the budget airline EasyJet, was delighted.
'Lewis is a great guy and I had the best flight of my life with him,' Colapinto, 22, said. 'It was very special and very unique. You all know that he was my idol since I was very young, with Senna as well, and to be able to fly with him and have a bit of a chat [was great]. I said I'm going to London but on EasyJet and he came back saying he had a lot of space on his plane and invited me to go.
'Also flying private for the first time — two very unique experiences and a lot of stories from Lewis. A very special flight. I was very, very impressed by how he is as a person and how he is as a professional. A lot to admire from the personal part, from the sportsman. It was great, a dream come true.'
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