‘A lot has been learned': Lando Norris on McLaren talks after his crash into Piastri

The Guardian

2 days ago

Lando Norris has insisted he and McLaren will come back stronger after the British driver's title ambitions took a blow when he had to retire at the Canadian Grand Prix having made an error in hitting his teammate Oscar Piastri on track.
Norris was challenging Piastri for fourth place in Montreal when he attempted to pass and made what he later described as a 'stupid' mistake. The pair were approaching turn one and Norris ran out of room when trying to take the inside line, clipped the back of Piastri's car and was edged into the pit wall, sustaining damage that took him out of the race. Piastri went on to finish fourth and the championship leader is 22 points ahead of Norris in the title fight.
Norris immediately took responsibility for the accident after the race and apologised to Piastri and his team for his misjudgment.
Speaking before this weekend's Austrian Grand Prix, the 11th race of the 24-meeting season, Norris confirmed he and the team engaged in extensive talks about the incident, with the British driver believing it had been a beneficial process.
'Not the most joyful conversations but conversations that needed to be had clearly,' he said. 'Some very constructive things and in an 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. Through an unfortunate circumstance a lot has been learned and a lot of things have turned into being stronger than they were before.'
Norris confirmed that the rules of engagement at McLaren remained as they were before the incident and that he and Piastri were on good terms. The drivers are still free to race but clearly greater emphasis has been placed on doing so without taking one another out, a lesson the British driver felt he had taken on board and that he and Piastri were both committed to not jeopardising McLaren's success by infighting.
Russell opens up on contract talks
George Russell has suggested his contract renewal talks with Mercedes are being held up because the team are still keen to sign Formula One champion Max Verstappen.
The 27-year-old Briton, winner in Canada two weeks ago, is out of contract at the end of the season while four-times champion Verstappen has a deal with Red Bull until 2028, subject to get-out clauses.
Russell told Sky Sports television at the Austrian Grand Prix that Mercedes, constructors' champions eight years in a row from 2014-2021 and currently second to McLaren, wanted to return to the top.
'If you're going to be back on top you need to make sure you've got the best drivers, the best engineers, the best pit crew, and that's what Mercedes are chasing,' he said.
'So, it's only normal that conversations with the likes of Verstappen are ongoing. But from my side, if I'm performing as I'm doing, what have I got to be concerned about? There are two seats in every Formula One team.'
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff made his interest in Verstappen clear last year as he sought a replacement for seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton.
In the end 18-year-old Italian rookie Kimi Antonelli was handed the opportunity and has been setting a string of age records, drawing strong support from fans. Reuters
'The trust and the honesty that Oscar and I have for one another, it's important that we keep it up,' he said. 'We stay strong as a team because we don't want to have the downfall that we know many other teams have had in the past.
'We want to race each other fair and hard and on the limit and not have a repeat of what happened last time out and that takes both of us, even though Canada was on me. So from a mentality point of view, from a constructive point of view, I think that's why it was positive.'