Lando Norris crashes out of Canadian GP after collision with McLaren pal Piastri as F1 title race swings enormously
LANDO NORRIS took the flak for crashing into his teammate Oscar Piastri.
The British McLaren driver held his hands up for the incident on lap 67 which left him out of the race at the Canadian Grand Prix with three laps to go.
The duo had been in the midst of a thrilling battle and Norris tried to nip ahead thinking there was a gap but instead ran into the back of Piastri and into the barrier.
He came onto the team radio and said: 'I'm sorry. It's all my bad, all my fault. Stupid from me.'
George Russell drove a superb race from pole to win his first race of the season while Max Verstappen took second ahead of Kimi Antonelli in third.
Russell soared ahead from the start with Verstappen snapping at his heels, while Antonelli nipped ahead of Piastri.
It was a bumpy start for Alex Albon who took a trip across the grass with his Williams briefly going airborne.
After pit stops from Russell and Verstappen, Norris was given a kick up the backside, as his race engineer came on the radio with some words of encouragement.
He said: "Russell has pitted. This is plan A. We need one of those amazing races from you here."
Lewis Hamilton suffered damage to his Ferrari after hitting a GROUNDHOG on the track, which affected his downforce.
Half way through and after a flurry of pit stops things had shuffled back to the same formation as the first stint.
Russell was then storming away up ahead with a lead of over five seconds for the first time on 37 as Verstappen fell back and into the clutches of Anontelli.
The Italian teenager had DRS on Verstappen so Red Bull called him into the pits early once again before rejoining in sixth.
On lap 49 Albon's afternoon came to an end with him pulling off track with a technical problem, well out of harm's way so no Virtual Safety Car was required.
It was bunching up between the leading pack, with seven seconds suddenly covering the top five.
Verstappen was snapping at Russell's heels with just over 1.5 seconds separating the bitter rivals while Norris in fifth was doing the same to his teammate Piastri in fourth.
The British driver even got within DRS range of Piastri who was being held up by Esteban Ocon in traffic.
Drama erupted as the two McLarens came together and the safety car came out.
Russell and Verstappen were sniping at each other under the safety car as the Dutchman felt he braked erratically while the Brit felt the Red Bull driver overtook him.
Mercedes man Russell held on but it was overshadowed by drama in the McLaren camp.
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F1 stewards decide outcome of Red Bull's George Russell protest in statement
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