Piastri won't blame teammate over Montreal collision
Oscar Piastri believes there were no "bad intentions" from his McLaren teammate Lando Norris, who caused the dramatic high-speed Canadian Grand Prix collision between the pair that's only boosted the Australian's F1 title hopes.
As George Russell delivered a brilliant pole-to-chequered flag drive to win from Max Verstappen in Montreal on Sunday, Norris crashed out of the race, taking all the blame for banging his car into the back of Piastri as they duelled dramatically for fourth place with just three laps left.
Going for a gap on the inside that simply wasn't there in a bid to edge past the championship leader, the 320kph collision ended with Norris's car stricken, its front suspension broken, and Piastri's coming off relatively unscathed so he was able to complete the race in fourth place under the safety car.
Norris ended up saying sorry to Piastri after the race, with the Victorian graciously shaking his hand and accepting his apology - "that's all right" - for a rash manoeuvre which could easily have sent them both spinning out of the race.
Instead, the calamity for a pointless Norris meant Piastri increased his championship lead over his teammate from 10 points to 22. Verstappen is 43 points adrift of the Aussie.
Norris accepted immediately he was in the wrong. "It is all my bad," he said on the team radio. "All my fault. Unlucky. Stupid from me."
Later, he added: "I take full blame and I want to apologise to my whole team and to Oscar for attempting something like that."
The ever cool Piastri himself shrugged it all off, saying he thought it was a "fair" attempt.
"I don't think there were any bad intentions involved. I think it was just unfortunate really. I will go and have a look, obviously," he added.
"Lando made quite a large move into turn 10. I held my own into the chicane and it was definitely a tough battle, but a clean one up until that point."
A duel like this, and a probable collision, was first predicted back in April by McLaren boss Zak Brown, but Piastri said he hoped they'd still be allowed to go head-to-head again.
"We're fighting for a world championship and very thankful to the team that they allow us to race," said the Aussie. "I don't expect this to change anything in terms of that. We'll keep going racing until the end."
Kimi Antonelli was a spectacular third - earning his first podium finish at just 18 - to complete Mercedes' big afternoon, but the balance of power in the McLaren camp has once more shifted significantly in Piastri's favour with his points advantage now almost an entire race's worth.
Piastri was pipped from third on the grid at the start by the bravura Antonelli and had a rare difficult outing outside the top three.
Norris, who had started from seventh on a different strategy on hard tyres that allowed him to run longer in the race, did well to get himself into position to challenge Piastri with 11 laps left.
It was a terrific duel, as Norris first dipped underneath Piastri at the hairpin only for Piastri to draw back alongside him into the final chicane and regain the position before the English driver's over ambitious swoop down the inside.
Behind Piastri, Ferrari pair Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton were fifth and sixth. Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso, Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg, Haas' Esteban Ocon and Williams' Carlos Sainz Jr. rounded out the top 10.
Piastri certainly wasn't satisfied, despite his increased lead. "For me, this weekend wasn't good enough," he said. "And it's still far, far too early to think that's a comfortable advantage or anything like that."
Oscar Piastri believes there were no "bad intentions" from his McLaren teammate Lando Norris, who caused the dramatic high-speed Canadian Grand Prix collision between the pair that's only boosted the Australian's F1 title hopes.
As George Russell delivered a brilliant pole-to-chequered flag drive to win from Max Verstappen in Montreal on Sunday, Norris crashed out of the race, taking all the blame for banging his car into the back of Piastri as they duelled dramatically for fourth place with just three laps left.
Going for a gap on the inside that simply wasn't there in a bid to edge past the championship leader, the 320kph collision ended with Norris's car stricken, its front suspension broken, and Piastri's coming off relatively unscathed so he was able to complete the race in fourth place under the safety car.
Norris ended up saying sorry to Piastri after the race, with the Victorian graciously shaking his hand and accepting his apology - "that's all right" - for a rash manoeuvre which could easily have sent them both spinning out of the race.
Instead, the calamity for a pointless Norris meant Piastri increased his championship lead over his teammate from 10 points to 22. Verstappen is 43 points adrift of the Aussie.
Norris accepted immediately he was in the wrong. "It is all my bad," he said on the team radio. "All my fault. Unlucky. Stupid from me."
Later, he added: "I take full blame and I want to apologise to my whole team and to Oscar for attempting something like that."
The ever cool Piastri himself shrugged it all off, saying he thought it was a "fair" attempt.
"I don't think there were any bad intentions involved. I think it was just unfortunate really. I will go and have a look, obviously," he added.
"Lando made quite a large move into turn 10. I held my own into the chicane and it was definitely a tough battle, but a clean one up until that point."
A duel like this, and a probable collision, was first predicted back in April by McLaren boss Zak Brown, but Piastri said he hoped they'd still be allowed to go head-to-head again.
"We're fighting for a world championship and very thankful to the team that they allow us to race," said the Aussie. "I don't expect this to change anything in terms of that. We'll keep going racing until the end."
Kimi Antonelli was a spectacular third - earning his first podium finish at just 18 - to complete Mercedes' big afternoon, but the balance of power in the McLaren camp has once more shifted significantly in Piastri's favour with his points advantage now almost an entire race's worth.
Piastri was pipped from third on the grid at the start by the bravura Antonelli and had a rare difficult outing outside the top three.
Norris, who had started from seventh on a different strategy on hard tyres that allowed him to run longer in the race, did well to get himself into position to challenge Piastri with 11 laps left.
It was a terrific duel, as Norris first dipped underneath Piastri at the hairpin only for Piastri to draw back alongside him into the final chicane and regain the position before the English driver's over ambitious swoop down the inside.
Behind Piastri, Ferrari pair Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton were fifth and sixth. Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso, Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg, Haas' Esteban Ocon and Williams' Carlos Sainz Jr. rounded out the top 10.
Piastri certainly wasn't satisfied, despite his increased lead. "For me, this weekend wasn't good enough," he said. "And it's still far, far too early to think that's a comfortable advantage or anything like that."
Oscar Piastri believes there were no "bad intentions" from his McLaren teammate Lando Norris, who caused the dramatic high-speed Canadian Grand Prix collision between the pair that's only boosted the Australian's F1 title hopes.
As George Russell delivered a brilliant pole-to-chequered flag drive to win from Max Verstappen in Montreal on Sunday, Norris crashed out of the race, taking all the blame for banging his car into the back of Piastri as they duelled dramatically for fourth place with just three laps left.
Going for a gap on the inside that simply wasn't there in a bid to edge past the championship leader, the 320kph collision ended with Norris's car stricken, its front suspension broken, and Piastri's coming off relatively unscathed so he was able to complete the race in fourth place under the safety car.
Norris ended up saying sorry to Piastri after the race, with the Victorian graciously shaking his hand and accepting his apology - "that's all right" - for a rash manoeuvre which could easily have sent them both spinning out of the race.
Instead, the calamity for a pointless Norris meant Piastri increased his championship lead over his teammate from 10 points to 22. Verstappen is 43 points adrift of the Aussie.
Norris accepted immediately he was in the wrong. "It is all my bad," he said on the team radio. "All my fault. Unlucky. Stupid from me."
Later, he added: "I take full blame and I want to apologise to my whole team and to Oscar for attempting something like that."
The ever cool Piastri himself shrugged it all off, saying he thought it was a "fair" attempt.
"I don't think there were any bad intentions involved. I think it was just unfortunate really. I will go and have a look, obviously," he added.
"Lando made quite a large move into turn 10. I held my own into the chicane and it was definitely a tough battle, but a clean one up until that point."
A duel like this, and a probable collision, was first predicted back in April by McLaren boss Zak Brown, but Piastri said he hoped they'd still be allowed to go head-to-head again.
"We're fighting for a world championship and very thankful to the team that they allow us to race," said the Aussie. "I don't expect this to change anything in terms of that. We'll keep going racing until the end."
Kimi Antonelli was a spectacular third - earning his first podium finish at just 18 - to complete Mercedes' big afternoon, but the balance of power in the McLaren camp has once more shifted significantly in Piastri's favour with his points advantage now almost an entire race's worth.
Piastri was pipped from third on the grid at the start by the bravura Antonelli and had a rare difficult outing outside the top three.
Norris, who had started from seventh on a different strategy on hard tyres that allowed him to run longer in the race, did well to get himself into position to challenge Piastri with 11 laps left.
It was a terrific duel, as Norris first dipped underneath Piastri at the hairpin only for Piastri to draw back alongside him into the final chicane and regain the position before the English driver's over ambitious swoop down the inside.
Behind Piastri, Ferrari pair Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton were fifth and sixth. Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso, Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg, Haas' Esteban Ocon and Williams' Carlos Sainz Jr. rounded out the top 10.
Piastri certainly wasn't satisfied, despite his increased lead. "For me, this weekend wasn't good enough," he said. "And it's still far, far too early to think that's a comfortable advantage or anything like that."
Oscar Piastri believes there were no "bad intentions" from his McLaren teammate Lando Norris, who caused the dramatic high-speed Canadian Grand Prix collision between the pair that's only boosted the Australian's F1 title hopes.
As George Russell delivered a brilliant pole-to-chequered flag drive to win from Max Verstappen in Montreal on Sunday, Norris crashed out of the race, taking all the blame for banging his car into the back of Piastri as they duelled dramatically for fourth place with just three laps left.
Going for a gap on the inside that simply wasn't there in a bid to edge past the championship leader, the 320kph collision ended with Norris's car stricken, its front suspension broken, and Piastri's coming off relatively unscathed so he was able to complete the race in fourth place under the safety car.
Norris ended up saying sorry to Piastri after the race, with the Victorian graciously shaking his hand and accepting his apology - "that's all right" - for a rash manoeuvre which could easily have sent them both spinning out of the race.
Instead, the calamity for a pointless Norris meant Piastri increased his championship lead over his teammate from 10 points to 22. Verstappen is 43 points adrift of the Aussie.
Norris accepted immediately he was in the wrong. "It is all my bad," he said on the team radio. "All my fault. Unlucky. Stupid from me."
Later, he added: "I take full blame and I want to apologise to my whole team and to Oscar for attempting something like that."
The ever cool Piastri himself shrugged it all off, saying he thought it was a "fair" attempt.
"I don't think there were any bad intentions involved. I think it was just unfortunate really. I will go and have a look, obviously," he added.
"Lando made quite a large move into turn 10. I held my own into the chicane and it was definitely a tough battle, but a clean one up until that point."
A duel like this, and a probable collision, was first predicted back in April by McLaren boss Zak Brown, but Piastri said he hoped they'd still be allowed to go head-to-head again.
"We're fighting for a world championship and very thankful to the team that they allow us to race," said the Aussie. "I don't expect this to change anything in terms of that. We'll keep going racing until the end."
Kimi Antonelli was a spectacular third - earning his first podium finish at just 18 - to complete Mercedes' big afternoon, but the balance of power in the McLaren camp has once more shifted significantly in Piastri's favour with his points advantage now almost an entire race's worth.
Piastri was pipped from third on the grid at the start by the bravura Antonelli and had a rare difficult outing outside the top three.
Norris, who had started from seventh on a different strategy on hard tyres that allowed him to run longer in the race, did well to get himself into position to challenge Piastri with 11 laps left.
It was a terrific duel, as Norris first dipped underneath Piastri at the hairpin only for Piastri to draw back alongside him into the final chicane and regain the position before the English driver's over ambitious swoop down the inside.
Behind Piastri, Ferrari pair Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton were fifth and sixth. Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso, Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg, Haas' Esteban Ocon and Williams' Carlos Sainz Jr. rounded out the top 10.
Piastri certainly wasn't satisfied, despite his increased lead. "For me, this weekend wasn't good enough," he said. "And it's still far, far too early to think that's a comfortable advantage or anything like that."
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The Advertiser
2 hours ago
- The Advertiser
Piastri and Norris told to 'carry on racing' by McLaren
McLaren will continue to let Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris race freely for the Formula One title but there will be some tough talks back at the factory after Sunday's collision in Canada. Norris accepted the blame after hitting the rear of his championship-leading Australian teammate's car while trying to overtake in a battle for fourth place three laps from the finish. The incident between the title frontrunners, with Piastri extending his lead to 22 points while Norris failed to score, was the talk of the paddock at Montreal's Circuit Gilles Villeneuve and had been long predicted. McLaren principal Andrea Stella said the team would discuss once the dust had settled how to prevent it from happening again. "Definitely there will be good conversations, but they will happen once we are all rested and calm," the Italian told reporters. He said the team would seek to "preserve our parity and equality in terms of how we go racing at McLaren between our two drivers. "The being free to race and the being clear as to how we go racing is a value of racing," he added. "It is a value of racing that we want to try and exercise and respect as much as we can, rather than every time we have a proximity between the two cars then having control from the pit wall. "We want to give Lando and Oscar opportunities to race and opportunities to be at the end of the season in the position that they deserve to be in." Stella said the points should reflect the drivers' performance rather than any team orders. "This is not necessarily a simple and straight exercise but we want to try and do it as best as we can," he said. "So I don't foresee that (the) episode will change our approach from this point of view. "If anything it will reinforce and it will strengthen that the principles we have require more caution by our drivers." Stella said the incident was a simple misjudgement of distance rather than an aggressive statement of intent and he appreciated Norris' ownership of responsibility. He recognised the Briton's confidence could be dented, with the driver always open in his emotions and prone to blaming himself in a title battle increasingly going Piastri's way, but Norris could count on every support. "On this one I want to be completely clear," said Stella. "It's full support to Lando. We will have conversations and the conversations may be even tough. But there's no doubt over the support we give to Lando. "Lando himself will have to show his character to overcome this kind of episode. Make sure that he only takes the learnings, he only takes what will make him a stronger driver." Piastri has won five of the 10 races so far to Norris' two with 14 remaining. The next race is in Austria on June 29. McLaren will continue to let Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris race freely for the Formula One title but there will be some tough talks back at the factory after Sunday's collision in Canada. Norris accepted the blame after hitting the rear of his championship-leading Australian teammate's car while trying to overtake in a battle for fourth place three laps from the finish. The incident between the title frontrunners, with Piastri extending his lead to 22 points while Norris failed to score, was the talk of the paddock at Montreal's Circuit Gilles Villeneuve and had been long predicted. McLaren principal Andrea Stella said the team would discuss once the dust had settled how to prevent it from happening again. "Definitely there will be good conversations, but they will happen once we are all rested and calm," the Italian told reporters. He said the team would seek to "preserve our parity and equality in terms of how we go racing at McLaren between our two drivers. "The being free to race and the being clear as to how we go racing is a value of racing," he added. "It is a value of racing that we want to try and exercise and respect as much as we can, rather than every time we have a proximity between the two cars then having control from the pit wall. "We want to give Lando and Oscar opportunities to race and opportunities to be at the end of the season in the position that they deserve to be in." Stella said the points should reflect the drivers' performance rather than any team orders. "This is not necessarily a simple and straight exercise but we want to try and do it as best as we can," he said. "So I don't foresee that (the) episode will change our approach from this point of view. "If anything it will reinforce and it will strengthen that the principles we have require more caution by our drivers." Stella said the incident was a simple misjudgement of distance rather than an aggressive statement of intent and he appreciated Norris' ownership of responsibility. He recognised the Briton's confidence could be dented, with the driver always open in his emotions and prone to blaming himself in a title battle increasingly going Piastri's way, but Norris could count on every support. "On this one I want to be completely clear," said Stella. "It's full support to Lando. We will have conversations and the conversations may be even tough. But there's no doubt over the support we give to Lando. "Lando himself will have to show his character to overcome this kind of episode. Make sure that he only takes the learnings, he only takes what will make him a stronger driver." Piastri has won five of the 10 races so far to Norris' two with 14 remaining. The next race is in Austria on June 29. McLaren will continue to let Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris race freely for the Formula One title but there will be some tough talks back at the factory after Sunday's collision in Canada. Norris accepted the blame after hitting the rear of his championship-leading Australian teammate's car while trying to overtake in a battle for fourth place three laps from the finish. The incident between the title frontrunners, with Piastri extending his lead to 22 points while Norris failed to score, was the talk of the paddock at Montreal's Circuit Gilles Villeneuve and had been long predicted. McLaren principal Andrea Stella said the team would discuss once the dust had settled how to prevent it from happening again. "Definitely there will be good conversations, but they will happen once we are all rested and calm," the Italian told reporters. He said the team would seek to "preserve our parity and equality in terms of how we go racing at McLaren between our two drivers. "The being free to race and the being clear as to how we go racing is a value of racing," he added. "It is a value of racing that we want to try and exercise and respect as much as we can, rather than every time we have a proximity between the two cars then having control from the pit wall. "We want to give Lando and Oscar opportunities to race and opportunities to be at the end of the season in the position that they deserve to be in." Stella said the points should reflect the drivers' performance rather than any team orders. "This is not necessarily a simple and straight exercise but we want to try and do it as best as we can," he said. "So I don't foresee that (the) episode will change our approach from this point of view. "If anything it will reinforce and it will strengthen that the principles we have require more caution by our drivers." Stella said the incident was a simple misjudgement of distance rather than an aggressive statement of intent and he appreciated Norris' ownership of responsibility. He recognised the Briton's confidence could be dented, with the driver always open in his emotions and prone to blaming himself in a title battle increasingly going Piastri's way, but Norris could count on every support. "On this one I want to be completely clear," said Stella. "It's full support to Lando. We will have conversations and the conversations may be even tough. But there's no doubt over the support we give to Lando. "Lando himself will have to show his character to overcome this kind of episode. Make sure that he only takes the learnings, he only takes what will make him a stronger driver." Piastri has won five of the 10 races so far to Norris' two with 14 remaining. The next race is in Austria on June 29. McLaren will continue to let Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris race freely for the Formula One title but there will be some tough talks back at the factory after Sunday's collision in Canada. Norris accepted the blame after hitting the rear of his championship-leading Australian teammate's car while trying to overtake in a battle for fourth place three laps from the finish. The incident between the title frontrunners, with Piastri extending his lead to 22 points while Norris failed to score, was the talk of the paddock at Montreal's Circuit Gilles Villeneuve and had been long predicted. McLaren principal Andrea Stella said the team would discuss once the dust had settled how to prevent it from happening again. "Definitely there will be good conversations, but they will happen once we are all rested and calm," the Italian told reporters. He said the team would seek to "preserve our parity and equality in terms of how we go racing at McLaren between our two drivers. "The being free to race and the being clear as to how we go racing is a value of racing," he added. "It is a value of racing that we want to try and exercise and respect as much as we can, rather than every time we have a proximity between the two cars then having control from the pit wall. "We want to give Lando and Oscar opportunities to race and opportunities to be at the end of the season in the position that they deserve to be in." Stella said the points should reflect the drivers' performance rather than any team orders. "This is not necessarily a simple and straight exercise but we want to try and do it as best as we can," he said. "So I don't foresee that (the) episode will change our approach from this point of view. "If anything it will reinforce and it will strengthen that the principles we have require more caution by our drivers." Stella said the incident was a simple misjudgement of distance rather than an aggressive statement of intent and he appreciated Norris' ownership of responsibility. He recognised the Briton's confidence could be dented, with the driver always open in his emotions and prone to blaming himself in a title battle increasingly going Piastri's way, but Norris could count on every support. "On this one I want to be completely clear," said Stella. "It's full support to Lando. We will have conversations and the conversations may be even tough. But there's no doubt over the support we give to Lando. "Lando himself will have to show his character to overcome this kind of episode. Make sure that he only takes the learnings, he only takes what will make him a stronger driver." Piastri has won five of the 10 races so far to Norris' two with 14 remaining. The next race is in Austria on June 29.
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Kaylee McKeown hits out amid special treatment claim following overturned disqualification at Australian national swimming trials
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4 hours ago
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Piastri and Norris told to 'carry on racing' by McLaren
McLaren will continue to let Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris race freely for the Formula One title but there will be some tough talks back at the factory after Sunday's collision in Canada. Norris accepted the blame after hitting the rear of his championship-leading Australian teammate's car while trying to overtake in a battle for fourth place three laps from the finish. The incident between the title frontrunners, with Piastri extending his lead to 22 points while Norris failed to score, was the talk of the paddock at Montreal's Circuit Gilles Villeneuve and had been long predicted. McLaren principal Andrea Stella said the team would discuss once the dust had settled how to prevent it from happening again. "Definitely there will be good conversations, but they will happen once we are all rested and calm," the Italian told reporters. He said the team would seek to "preserve our parity and equality in terms of how we go racing at McLaren between our two drivers. "The being free to race and the being clear as to how we go racing is a value of racing," he added. "It is a value of racing that we want to try and exercise and respect as much as we can, rather than every time we have a proximity between the two cars then having control from the pit wall. "We want to give Lando and Oscar opportunities to race and opportunities to be at the end of the season in the position that they deserve to be in." Stella said the points should reflect the drivers' performance rather than any team orders. "This is not necessarily a simple and straight exercise but we want to try and do it as best as we can," he said. "So I don't foresee that (the) episode will change our approach from this point of view. "If anything it will reinforce and it will strengthen that the principles we have require more caution by our drivers." Stella said the incident was a simple misjudgement of distance rather than an aggressive statement of intent and he appreciated Norris' ownership of responsibility. He recognised the Briton's confidence could be dented, with the driver always open in his emotions and prone to blaming himself in a title battle increasingly going Piastri's way, but Norris could count on every support. "On this one I want to be completely clear," said Stella. "It's full support to Lando. We will have conversations and the conversations may be even tough. But there's no doubt over the support we give to Lando. "Lando himself will have to show his character to overcome this kind of episode. Make sure that he only takes the learnings, he only takes what will make him a stronger driver." Piastri has won five of the 10 races so far to Norris' two with 14 remaining. The next race is in Austria on June 29.
