Formula 1, Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri, Canadian Grand Prix, Martin Brundle
F1 expert Martin Brundle has issued a blunt warning to a 'clumsy' Lando Norris that he will not win the world championship if he keeps having weekends where it 'all falls apart' after his dramatic run-in with Oscar Piastri at the Canadian Grand Prix.
The Brit collided with his McLaren teammate Piastri late in Sunday's race in Montreal when the pair were fighting for fourth.
After managing to avoid trouble between each other so far this year, Norris admitted fault after running into the rear tyre of Piastri while he attempted to overtake on pit straight and ending up crashing into the concrete barrier, ending his race.
Piastri went on to finish fourth and extend his lead in the championship battle to 22 points over his teammate.
Brundle said Norris, who has won two races this year in Melbourne and Monaco, seemed to be developing an all-or-nothing pattern at race weekends.
Britain's Lando Norris walks away from his car following a collision with McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri. Picture: Getty
While he did not rule Norris out of the title race, he said Piastri boasted greater consistency in his performances and the Brit would need to bring his 'A-game' each race.
'Lando seems to have weekends which are utterly dominant, like Melbourne and Monaco, or it just all falls apart. It was one of those weekends, sadly for him,' Brundle told Sky Sports F1.
'Lando won't win a world championship unless he can stop these weekends happening. It's as simple as that.
'He's got to bring his A-game pretty much all the time, like Max (Verstappen) does. Oscar's much more solid in his delivery week in, week out, much more consistent.
'I find it really confusing that those two different levels of performance. He needs to park one and deliver the other one more often, but there's a long way to go.
'It doesn't mean he's out of the championship at all. But when you look at the turnaround in points from the advantage he came away from Melbourne with, to what he's got now, it's a 45-point swing in that time.'
Oscar Piastri and McLaren teammate Lando Norris collided during the closing stages of the Canadian Grand Prix.
Norris had commented last week in the lead-in to the Canadian Grand Prix that an on-track clash between the papaya pair was 'inevitable' this year as the title race heated up and the team was prepared for this happening.
The team's famous 'papaya rules' have allowed their drivers to race each other, but cleanly without making contact with their teammate.
Oscar Piastri sits atop the championship standings despite missing the podium in Canada. Picture: Getty
But Brundle said Norris' move on Piastri had been 'clumsy'.
'It was just very clumsy and sort of unnecessary,' Brundle said.
'The rules are, which Lando broke, you race hard, you're both up for the championship, but don't run into each other and only one part of that happened.
'As they've said frequently, it was inevitable. But, it wasn't an inevitable championship clash, was it? They were fighting for fourth and fifth, so there's no point in running into each other.
'It's not the end of the world, far from it, but it's difficult for Lando.'
Rebecca Williams
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Rebecca Williams is a sports reporter for the Herald Sun/News Corp and CODE Sports covering mainly AFL and motorsport.
@BecHeraldSun
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"They're very much in the same boat as we were in 2001 in terms of limited preparation and when you think about the Lions, they are already together now, so their combinations will be a lot more settled and prepared than ours will be. "But the coaching team, the players, have known this for the last year or two, and there are already combinations that are in place, that are playing very well so it's going to be smoother to fall into the patterns that Joe Schmidt and the coaching team want. "But it may be the same scenario where the Lions come in as a better prepared despite smashing together a whole lot of different nations." Voted by rugby fans as the "biggest hero" of the triumphant 2001 Wallabies side, Joe Roff is tipping Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii to be the break-out star of this year's series against the British and Irish Lions. 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Formula 1, Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri, Canadian Grand Prix, Martin Brundle
F1 expert Martin Brundle has issued a blunt warning to a 'clumsy' Lando Norris that he will not win the world championship if he keeps having weekends where it 'all falls apart' after his dramatic run-in with Oscar Piastri at the Canadian Grand Prix. The Brit collided with his McLaren teammate Piastri late in Sunday's race in Montreal when the pair were fighting for fourth. After managing to avoid trouble between each other so far this year, Norris admitted fault after running into the rear tyre of Piastri while he attempted to overtake on pit straight and ending up crashing into the concrete barrier, ending his race. Piastri went on to finish fourth and extend his lead in the championship battle to 22 points over his teammate. Brundle said Norris, who has won two races this year in Melbourne and Monaco, seemed to be developing an all-or-nothing pattern at race weekends. Britain's Lando Norris walks away from his car following a collision with McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri. Picture: Getty While he did not rule Norris out of the title race, he said Piastri boasted greater consistency in his performances and the Brit would need to bring his 'A-game' each race. 'Lando seems to have weekends which are utterly dominant, like Melbourne and Monaco, or it just all falls apart. It was one of those weekends, sadly for him,' Brundle told Sky Sports F1. 'Lando won't win a world championship unless he can stop these weekends happening. It's as simple as that. 'He's got to bring his A-game pretty much all the time, like Max (Verstappen) does. Oscar's much more solid in his delivery week in, week out, much more consistent. 'I find it really confusing that those two different levels of performance. He needs to park one and deliver the other one more often, but there's a long way to go. 'It doesn't mean he's out of the championship at all. But when you look at the turnaround in points from the advantage he came away from Melbourne with, to what he's got now, it's a 45-point swing in that time.' Oscar Piastri and McLaren teammate Lando Norris collided during the closing stages of the Canadian Grand Prix. Norris had commented last week in the lead-in to the Canadian Grand Prix that an on-track clash between the papaya pair was 'inevitable' this year as the title race heated up and the team was prepared for this happening. The team's famous 'papaya rules' have allowed their drivers to race each other, but cleanly without making contact with their teammate. Oscar Piastri sits atop the championship standings despite missing the podium in Canada. Picture: Getty But Brundle said Norris' move on Piastri had been 'clumsy'. 'It was just very clumsy and sort of unnecessary,' Brundle said. 'The rules are, which Lando broke, you race hard, you're both up for the championship, but don't run into each other and only one part of that happened. 'As they've said frequently, it was inevitable. But, it wasn't an inevitable championship clash, was it? They were fighting for fourth and fifth, so there's no point in running into each other. 'It's not the end of the world, far from it, but it's difficult for Lando.' Rebecca Williams Sports reporter Rebecca Williams is a sports reporter for the Herald Sun/News Corp and CODE Sports covering mainly AFL and motorsport. @BecHeraldSun Rebecca Williams
Courier-Mail
5 hours ago
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‘Nasty' Oscar Piastri act called out by former world champ
Don't miss out on the headlines from F1. Followed categories will be added to My News. Lando Norris accepted the blame, but outspoken 1997 F1 world champion Jacques Villeneuve says Oscar Piastri is not entirely without fault for the bundle between the two McLarens in Canada. The dig at the world championship leader is the latest chapter in Villeneuve's book of disdain for Australian drivers after his regular targeting of Daniel Ricciardo. Like his scathing assessments of Ricciardo during the twilight of his F1 career, the Canadian's opinion on the Norris-Piastri incident is sure to raise eyebrows. Fox Sports, available on Kayo Sports, is the only place to watch every qualifying session and race in the 2025 FIA Formula One World Championship™ LIVE in 4K. New to Kayo? Get your first month for just $1. Limited time offer. As the two McLarens hunted a podium place in the dying laps of the Grand Prix won by Mercedes' George Russell, Norris crashed into the back of Piastri after anticipating a gap would open up on the inside of the first turn. The Australian held his line however, Norris lost control, and slammed into the pit wall, wrecking his car and his race with three laps remaining. Piastri drove on unscathed and held on to finish fourth, widening his gap over Norris in the drivers' standings to 22 points as a result. The Brit immediately apologised on the team radio before making the walk of shame back to the garage. Post-race, he reiterated those words to Piastri face-to-face, and then stressed his sorrow once again in his press conference. McLaren CEO Zak Brown thanked Norris publicly for his 'candour', while Piastri said his teammate's willingness to admit his error was a great quality to have. Team principal Andrea Stella, meanwhile, said Norris made a 'misjudgement' that 'should have not happened'. Lando Norris (right) went for a gap that wasn't quite there. Photo: Fox Sports. Lando Norris walks away from his damaged car after a crash. Photo:/AFP. The FIA stewards placed the responsibility for the incident firmly on Norris' shoulders too, slapping him with a redundant five-second time penalty. The views of everyone directly involved contradicted those, however, of Villeneuve, who couldn't resist yet another chance to target an Australian driver. 'The clash between the two McLaren drivers, [it was] easy to point the finger at Norris,' he said. 'He realised too late that Piastri was moving towards the left because he had his nose in the gearbox of Piastri, he didn't realise it and Piastri was edging gradually towards the left. 'He's not supposed to be doing that, it was a little bit nasty, so there will be some talks later inside the team.' Esteemed F1 commentator Martin Brundle was another who reiterated that Norris was at fault, and respected Piastri's tactics. 'Oscar did well to see the first move coming because Lando was a long way behind when he launched it into Turn 10,' he told Sky Sports. 'Lando probably thought he got him because Oscar was at an acute angle into the final chicane and tight and wide. Oscar wasn't being particularly kind to him, but then why should he? Lando seemed to persevere down that left-hand side when it wasn't on. 'I don't think it was anything other than not recognising early enough that it wasn't going to happen, followed by wiping his front wing on his rear tyres. It was just very clumsy and sort of unnecessary.' Fans on social media love pushing the bold claim that Villeneuve — who was once engaged to pop singer Dannii Minogue — holds resentment towards Australians. His comments about Piastri come after whacking Jack Doohan following his crash in practice in Japan earlier this year, as well as his long-running feud with Ricciardo. Things got 'personal' between Villeneuve and Ricciardo at last year's Canadian Grand Prix when the 54-year-old responded to a question on Sky Sports during Friday practice about Ricciardo's future, by asking 'Why is he still in F1?'. Villeneuve went onto torch Ricciardo's whole career even more harshly. 'He was beating a [Sebastian] Vettel that was burnt out, that was trying to invent things with the car to go win and just making a mess of his weekends,' he said. 'Then he was beating for half a season [Max] Verstappen when Verstappen was 18 years old, just starting. 'Then that was it. He stopped beating anyone after that. 'I think his image has kept him in F1 more than his actual results.' After qualifying in fifth that week, Ricciardo then told ESPN that Villeneuve was 'talking s***'. 'I still don't know what he said, but I heard he's been talking s***,' he said. 'But he always does. 'I think he's hit his head a few too many times, I don't know if he plays ice hockey or something. 'I won't give him the time of day, but all those people can suck it.' Australians are not the only ones in the opinionated former driver's sights however, as he also took aim at race officials for denying fans a more exciting finish in Canada. The race ended under a Safety Car because of the McLarens crash, and Villeneuve suggested that a red flag should have been waved instead. 'What could have been, should have been an exciting race, turned into a not-so-exciting race,' he said. 'The end of the race – I mean, the rules allow for red flags so we can have a new start for a two-lap sprint, always exciting, and they decided to have a boring safety car finish. Well, too bad.' McLaren team boss Stella said the team 'appreciated' Norris' response to the crash. With the two drivers vying for world championship honours, there could be more incidents of its kind to come in the remaining 14 races. Stella believes the internal rivalry will only make the team stronger. 'We did appreciate the fact that Lando immediately owned the situation, raised his hand, and took responsibility for the accident,' he said. 'He apologised immediately to the team. He came to apologise to me as team principal in order to apologise to the entire team. 'It's important the way we respond and we react to these situations, which ultimately will be a very important learning point. 'I don't think it's learning from a theoretical point of view, because the principle was already there, but it's learning in terms of experiencing how painful these situations can be, and this will only make us stronger in terms of our internal competition and in terms of the way we go racing.' Originally published as 'Nasty' Oscar Piastri act called out by former world champ
