Lando Norris was the pre-season favourite for the drivers’ title, but he trails McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri by 22 points after he crashed out of the Canadian Grand Prix.
The papaya pals collided on Lap 66 of 70 at the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve as Norris misjudged a chance to overtake Piastri for fourth place during the Canadian GP. The Briton got a run on the Australian onto the pit straight, but he did not see that he was driving into a closed door.
Norris immediately apologised for crashing into Piastri, who was able to continue and finish in P4, whereas the 25-year-old retired on the spot. His first retirement of the 2025 F1 season also ensured the Bristol native left Montreal facing his greatest deficit in the standings so far.
It was even the first retirement for a McLaren driver after the first 10 Grands Prix and two F1 Sprint events this term. Norris had also finished every Grand Prix in the top four up until the Canadian GP, where Piastri saw his run of eight successive podium finishes come to an end.
Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images
Ralf Schumacher believes Lando Norris now feels like McLaren judge him ‘too closely’
But while Norris crashing into Piastri in the Canadian GP has strengthened the latter’s hopes for winning the F1 drivers’ championship for the first time, how McLaren treated the former in Montreal even created questions for Ralf Schumacher about how the Briton perceives it.
Ex-Williams F1 racer Schumacher noticed how often Norris’ race engineer, Will Joseph, tried to coach the six-time Grand Prix winner throughout the weekend at the Canadian GP. It also led Schumacher to believe that Norris feels as if McLaren are now judging him ‘too closely’.
Schumacher told F1 Insider: “Norris needs to clear his head and simply do what he’s really good at, driving fast. He can do that, and very well. In terms of pure speed, he was faster than Piastri in Montreal, but he made crucial mistakes – first in qualifying, then in the race.
“I think he feels like he’s being watched too closely, including by the team. It’s noticeable that the engineers constantly want to give him tips over the radio. They should stop doing that in the future, just let him drive.”
McLaren will risk losing their team harmony if Lando Norris feels put out by his own team
Schumacher feels McLaren are backing Piastri to win the 2025 F1 title, too, having now seen Norris commit one too many mistakes this season after crashing out of the Canadian GP. But the German has also taken issue with how McLaren treat Norris after he makes his mistakes.
Norris was the pre-season 2025 F1 title favourite after emerging as a contender for the first time last year while dominating Piastri 16-8 for Grand Prix results and 20-4 in qualifying. Yet despite leading Piastri by 23 points after race one, he now trails the Australian by 22 points.
If Norris does indeed feel like McLaren are judging him too much for his mistakes, it will not help the Briton to improve his title hopes, either. The team may even have to work to avoid a fractious situation like with Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton at McLaren back in 2007.
