Lando Norris suffered a crucial setback in the 2025 F1 championship after a reckless collision with teammate Oscar Piastri during the Canadian Grand Prix. This incident, occurring late in the race while battling for fourth place, left Norris with race-ending damage and 22 points behind Piastri in the championship standings, according to expert Martin Brundle of Sky Sports F1, who emphasized that Norris must bring his A-game consistently to stay in contention.
The crash happened when Norris attempted an ambitious inside pass on Piastri at the Turn 10 hairpin. The two McLaren drivers ran side-by-side down the back straight before Norris, gaining better momentum off the final chicane, collided with Piastri’s rear tire. This caused Norris to spin into the pit wall, prematurely ending his race.
The Collision and Its Immediate Aftermath
Norris was quick to acknowledge the severity of his error, apologizing to the McLaren team for the “stupid” mistake on the approach to Turn 1. The aggressive move was widely viewed as avoidable and costly for both drivers. Brundle detailed the incident:
“Oscar did well to see the first move coming because Lando was a long way behind when he launched it into Turn 10,”
he noted.
Brundle explained Norris’s misjudgment, stating,
“I don’t think it was anything other than not recognising early enough that it wasn’t going to happen, followed by wiping his front wing on his rear tyres. It was just very clumsy and sort of unnecessary.”
This judgment error disrupted both drivers’ races and underscored the fragile balance McLaren faces with their two competitive drivers.
McLaren’s Team Dynamics and Management Response
McLaren’s management had anticipated potential clashes between Norris and Piastri due to their close competition and fighting spirit. Team principal Andrea Stella confirmed that the team would maintain an aggressive but fair approach, allowing the drivers to race each other without imposing overly restrictive measures.
Reflecting on this stance, Brundle said,
“I think that’s driven by two racers in Zak [Brown, McLaren Racing CEO] and Andrea.”
He recalled how Norris was instructed during the race to
“use the DRS, use your battery, have a go at him,”
highlighting the high-pressure encouragement given to the young driver.
However, Brundle also cautioned about the fine line Norris crossed:
“The rules are, which Lando broke, you race hard, you’re both up for the championship, but don’t run into each other and only one part of that happened.”
He added perspective on the situation:
“As they’ve said frequently, it was inevitable. But, it wasn’t an inevitable championship clash, was it? They were fighting for fourth and fifth, so there’s no point in running into each other. It’s not the end of the world, far from it, but it’s difficult for Lando.”
Mixed Performances Highlight Norris’s Inconsistency
Throughout the Canadian GP weekend, Norris showed flashes of speed, particularly in practice sessions where he outpaced Piastri. However, his qualifying performance fell short, placing him seventh on the grid compared to Piastri’s third, which put Norris at a disadvantage for the race.
Brundle described Norris’s performance as inconsistent.
“Lando seems to have weekends which are utterly dominant, like Melbourne and Monaco, or it just all falls apart. It was one of those weekends, sadly for him,”
he observed.
Norris’s qualifying struggles were marked by a critical mistake in the first lap of Q3 and a subpar final lap, hampering his grid position. Brundle noted that before the collision, Norris had recovered well in the race itself,
“He sorts all that out and really drove well in the race, actually before the incident. He bided his time, pushed when he had to and effectively recovered himself.”
Championship Standings and Norris’s Challenging Road Ahead
At the start of the season in Australia, Norris held a 23-point lead over Piastri, whose spin in difficult conditions set the stage for Norris’s early advantage. Since then, however, Piastri’s form has been unbeatable, with eight consecutive podium finishes including five wins, enabling him to capitalize on Norris’s mistakes and take a 22-point lead heading into the European rounds.
Brundle emphasized the critical need for Norris to address his inconsistency if he is to remain a viable contender:
“Lando won’t win a World Championship unless he can stop these weekends happening. It’s as simple as that,”
he warned.
He continued,
“He’s got to bring his A-game pretty much all the time, like Max [Verstappen] does. Oscar’s much more solid in his delivery week in, week out, much more consistent.”
Brundle expressed puzzlement over the variability in Norris’s performance:
“I find it really confusing that those two different levels of performance. He needs to park one and deliver the other one more often, but there’s a long way to go.”
Despite the setbacks, Brundle believes the championship is still open:
“It doesn’t mean he’s out of the championship at all. But when you look at the turnaround in points from the advantage he came away from Melbourne with, to what he’s got now, it’s a 45-point swing in that time.”
Looking Forward: Upcoming Challenges in the 2025 F1 Season
The next race on the calendar, the Austrian Grand Prix, will mark the beginning of the European segment of the 2025 season. The event, scheduled for June 27-29, promises another high-stakes battle between Norris and Piastri as both look to solidify their positions in the title race.
For Norris, the pressure to perform without errors will be immense, as his championship hopes depend on showcasing more consistent, mistake-free racing in the coming rounds.
