Distraught Lando Norris apologises to McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri after Canada crash
By BEN NAGLE
A downbeat Lando Norris apologised to McLaren and admitted he 'made a fool of himself' after crashing into team-mate Oscar Piastri at the Canadian Grand Prix.
Norris and Piastri were battling for fourth place in the latter stages of the race in Montreal, when the Brit inadvertently clipped the back of his rival, ending his own race in the process.
Piastri was able to finish - extending his championship lead from 10 to 22 points - and after the race Norris was in no doubt over who was at fault for the collision.
'Rule number one is to not make a contact with your teammate, and that’s what I did,' he told reporters in the paddock. 'McLaren is my family and I race for them every single weekend and try and do well for them on and off the track, and do well for myself.
'So when I let them down like this and make a fool of myself like I did today, I have a lot of regret. I’m not proud of myself, I feel bad and I’ve let down the team. So apologies to all of them.'
Piastri and Norris shared a moment together in the media pen after the race, with the Brit apologising to his Australian counterpart for their on-track tussle.
Lando Norris walks away from his McLaren after crashing out of the Canadian Grand Prix
A crane lifts Norris' stricken McLaren off the track, after his race ended in disaster
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George Russell wins Canadian GP as Lando Norris crashes out after colliding with Oscar Piastri
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'Of course, he [Oscar] is not going to be happy altogether with what happened,' Norris added. 'I wouldn't be either if it was the other way around, you know, so I owe him an apology for such a risk.
'He raced me fairly until that point and close, and that's what you want. So, you know, Oscar did nothing wrong here, just just myself. I’ve let down the team, so that's going to stay with me for a little while.'
Piastri, meanwhile, acknowledged Norris' apology in his own interviews and praised his team-mate.
'Lando is a very good guy and it is in his character and personality to say what he thinks, even if that is detrimental to himself,' the championship leader said. 'This a great quality for Lando. It is good for the team going forward that we can have these conversations and race like this and have things not go the way we want and get through them.'
'Everything will stay the same,' he added. 'If we were too aggressive going through a corner and we clearly got it wrong than that is one thing but it was an unfortunate incident on a straight effectively and it will not change anything and that is how it should be because we are both fighting for a world championship.'
The crash between the two title favourites occurred at the end of the home straight in Canada
George Russell finished first to close the gap on the McLaren pair in the drivers' standings
For McLaren, attention now turns to Austria in a fortnight, where the team are expected to take a step forward and return to the front of the grid.
Norris, meanwhile, admitted he is not looking forward to returning to the team's MTC base in Woking next week.
'Part of moving on is trying to put it behind you and crack on with the next weekend,' he said in Montreal. 'But, you know, we go back to the factory and I go and say hello to the whole team and I'm sure that's not going to be a nice moment for me, because of something like today.'
And as for the championship battle? 'There's plenty more races left. I don’t expect it to be easy. I don't expect him catch him easy, but I have to work hard for it and make less mistakes than I did this weekend.'
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