McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has expressed full support for Lando Norris after the British driver took responsibility for a collision with his teammate Oscar Piastri during the Canadian Grand Prix. The incident happened late in the race when Norris attempted to overtake Piastri, leading to a crash that affected both drivers’ results.

While battling closely for fourth place, Norris tried to pass Piastri on the left side with just four laps remaining in the 70-lap race. He misjudged the closing gap, resulting in contact with his teammate and a subsequent collision with the pit wall. This caused terminal suspension damage to Norris’s car, ending his race early.

Details of the Incident and Immediate Reactions

The Briton quickly admitted fault over team radio, stating “it was all on me” and later personally apologized to both Stella and Piastri. Despite the crash, Piastri managed to avoid damage and secured fourth place, while Norris suffered a significant blow in the drivers’ championship points.

Stella confirmed that internal discussions will take place to prevent similar incidents in the future but emphasized the importance of supporting Norris, who showed immediate accountability.

It’s up to us as a team to show our full support to Lando,

Stella said.

We will have conversations and the conversations may be even tough, but there’s no doubt over the support we give to Lando.

Stella highlighted that the situation would have been very different if Norris had not taken responsibility. He described the crash as

“a miscalculation, a misjudgement from a racing point of view,”

but added that such errors can be part of racing.

And we did appreciate the fact that Lando immediately owned the situation. He raised his hand. He took responsibility for the accident, and he apologised immediately to the team.

Learning from the Crash to Improve Team Dynamics

The McLaren principal stressed that the team‘s response to the incident would be key moving forward. He pointed to upcoming discussions aimed at refining how drivers manage racing margins to avoid further clashes between teammates.

How we react to these situations will ultimately be a very important learning point. In the coming days, we will have to go into what is needed in order to make sure that when we go racing, we preserve the margins that are required.

Stella also addressed speculation about Norris’s mindset following a difficult qualifying session that forced him to start seventh, clarifying that frustration from qualifying was unlikely to have caused the collision.

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,

Stella added.

Surely, there was a bit of frustration for not having been able 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.

Calm Reflection Expected Before Moving Forward

Stella noted the importance of approaching the situation calmly and thoughtfully after the intensity of race weekend pressures. He anticipates detailed team conversations once all are rested and able to objectively consider lessons learned from the crash.

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.

This incident at the Canadian Grand Prix highlights how close racing among teammates can lead to significant consequences, especially when championship points are at stake. McLaren’s readiness to back Norris signals confidence in the driver’s abilities despite the costly error, emphasizing the need for continued communication and clearer racing protocols within the team.