Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri agree on McLaren pecking order after ‘tough’ conversations!
McLaren held talks after the Canadian Grand Prix which saw Lando Norris misjudge an attempted overtake on team-mate Oscar Piastri and crash into the back of his F1 title rival
Lando Norris trails Oscar Piastri by 22 points in the championship(Image: Formula 1 via Getty Images)
Lando Norris is still free to fight Formula 1 title rival Oscar Piastri despite slamming into his team-mate last time out. The Brit crashed out in Montreal two weeks ago when he misjudged a move on the other McLaren, before immediately apologising for his error.
Piastri was happy to forgive and forget, though McLaren still held talks with their drivers to nip any ill feeling in the bud. “They were not the most joyful conversations, but they were conversations that clearly needed to be had,” Norris admitted ahead of this weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix.
“It is not about just me, but it is about how we perform as a team and we all know what the number one rule was, and continues to be [not crashing into each other]. So, there were very constructive things that were said, in an unfortunate way but in a good way, too, because many things have come out stronger which you might not have expected.”
Norris has a history of dwelling on personal errors but insists he is over this one after “a tough couple of days”. He said: “It took me a little time [to get over] because my team means everything to me. They are the people I have grown up with and the team that has given me my opportunity in F1.
“So, what happened in Montreal with my team-mate was probably the most painful part for me because it was the last thing I would ever want to happen and for that action to have come from me. But I have become a lot better at dealing with those moments and trying to move on as quickly as possible was very important. We come here with that in the past and we go again.”
And both drivers agree their dynamic remains the same with Norris free to fight Piastri, who leads the championship by 22 points. Norris said: “Nothing has changed. It actually showed the trust and honesty that Oscar and I have for one another.
“And it is important that we keep that going and we stay strong because we don’t want the downfall that we know other teams have had in the past. We want to race fair, hard and on the limit but we don’t want a repeat of what happened last time out and that takes both of us even though Canada was on me.”
And Piastri added: “Obviously, what happened in Canada wasn’t ideal, but we’re still free to race, still fighting for a championship each. So nope, [we’ll] keep going racing and make sure that obviously we don’t come into contact again.
“We knew going into this year it was probably going to be a close fight between Lando and I with the championship at stake, so it’s no surprise to anyone that we’re kind of in this scenario now. And I’ve said it multiple times before but Lando and I don’t just want one opportunity this year to win a championship. We want this to go on for as long as we’re in F1.
“I think the headline a few weeks ago was it’s not wise to fight for a championship or win a championship and bring the house down with it, so I think that’s still very much at the forefront of our minds. We want this success for years to come and having the team united is a very simple way of doing that.”
