McLaren boss Andrea Stella has denied any notion that Lando Norris’ crash with team-mate Oscar Piastri in the Formula 1 Canadian Grand Prix was in some way a reaction to what had been a poor weekend until that point.
Norris touched the back of Piastri’s car at the start of Lap 67, sending him into the barrier on the start-finish straight and into retirement.
The Briton, who is now 22 points behind Piastri in the title race as a result, was quick to apologise to both the Australian and the team.
Norris had qualified in seventh place after a poor showing in qualifying, but the Woking-based squad were not the strongest team over the course of the weekend.
When asked if the incident had stemmed from frustration about how the weekend had gone up until that point, Norris was quick to refute such an idea.
“No, not at all. No, I think we didn’t have the pace for pole yesterday,” he told media including Motorsport Week. “Oscar did a good job and good lap to get P3. Today we were probably quicker than we were expecting, I would say, which is a big positive for us.
“Our race pace was very strong, and I felt like quite easily the quickest on track, so it doesn’t really matter in the end of the day when I crash.
“But, yes, I think we clearly always struggled more in qualifying this season than we have in the race. I think that showed again this weekend.
“So, yes, it’s quite obvious to us that our weakness is qualifying at the minute as a team, of course, myself too, and that’s what we’ve got to work on.”
Stella: Frustration not the cause of Norris’ ‘misjudgement’
Stella was forced to address the issue after the race, too, and delivered a defiant message of strength and unity within the McLaren ranks despite the crash, saying Norris’ public apology will strengthen the team, as well as reaffirming the team’s philosophy that both men are free to race.
When the same question was put to the Italian about Norris’ actions and what perhaps had led to them, he was equally as sure in his denial that frustration had got the better of his driver.
“From Lando’s point of view specifically, I’m not sure that there is any reason to do with the fact that he might have struggled a little bit yesterday in qualifying to capitalise on his speed, a speed that he had demonstrated throughout the weekend,” he told media including Motorsport Week.
“Surely there was a bit of frustration for not having been to qualify as he would have liked. But at the moment I wouldn’t say that that’s the reason why there was a misjudgement today.
“I think this is too long a shot in terms of correlating these two events. But definitely there will be good conversations, but they will happen once we are all rested and calm and we have the possibility to take all the learning and discharge what doesn’t have to come with us in the future.”
READ MORE – What McLaren wants to see from Lando Norris after Oscar Piastri Canada F1 clash
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