OPINION: Norris and Piastri’s collision came at the best possible time

Eddie Kalegi - Staff Writer

Lando Norris walks from crashed car (screenshot from Sky Sports broadcast feed, June 15th, 2025)

In Formula One, when two teammates share nearly identical speed, their coming together is inevitable. Whether it’s because of an internal competition to determine which driver is the constructor’s true ‘number one,’ or rather merely just a product of constantly racing one another on the track, it’s not uncommon to see teammates come to blows, even when the series prides itself on impeccable etiquette and racecraft.

Everyone remembers the most iconic example of this at Mercedes in 2016, when two-time reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton and eventual champion Nico Rosberg took each other out on the opening lap of the Spanish Grand Prix. However, on smaller scales further back in the pack, this is more of a commonality. Just last season, Ferrari teammates Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz made contact on multiple occasions, while former Alpine driver Esteban Ocon took out his running mate Pierre Gasly in the Monaco Grand Prix.

This season, all eyes were on Lando Norris and McLaren. The group won its first constructors’ championship in a quarter century last year, and Norris nearly captured his maiden drivers’ title. Entering 2025, the latter appeared to be his to lose.

That all changed with the sudden emergence of his teammate Oscar Piastri, who won five of the first seven races of the campaign, quickly appearing to dethrone Norris as McLaren’s top dog, and by default, the primary contender for the world drivers’ championship. As the pair consistently scrapped it out on track, it became a question of when, not if, the two would ultimately come together. Last Sunday in Montreal, that finally happened.

Late in the 2025 Canadian Grand Prix, Norris attempted to make a daring move around the outside of Piastri, touching the grass. Piastri was defensive, and Norris touched the back of his car and then the retaining wall, suffering terminal wing damage and ending his race. It certainly wasn’t a banner moment for McLaren, and there’s no such thing as a good time to crash, but if there was ever a time for the inevitable to happen, this was the moment.

First, unlike the aforementioned 2016 Mercedes incident, when Hamilton and Rosberg crashed from the lead, this skirmish occurred during McLaren’s weakest performance of the season. The duo had been thoroughly outclassed by George Russell and Max Verstappen all weekend, and at best could’ve salvaged a third-place finish. After the team was heavily scrutinized for throwing away multiple victories last year, this was not one of those times. Norris was forced to retire and Piastri had to settle for fourth, marking the first time this season that a McLaren driver didn’t grace the podium, but for this to happen during their worst weekend of the year, it becomes a smaller issue because of less of an opportunity cost.

Secondly, there appears to be no discrepancy on cause. Before Piastri spoke with Sky Sports after the race in the paddock, Norris made sure to find his teammate and accept full responsibility for the incident, later apologizing on air.

“No one to blame but myself,” Norris said. “I apologize to the whole team and to Oscar as well for attempting probably something a bit too silly.”

That is damage control at its finest, and significant coming from Norris, who hasn’t had the best history taking culpability for his missteps on track. Piastri could very well be quite upset internally about what transpired, but he certainly didn’t show it externally. I chalk this up as a one-time occurrence that was smoothly quelled by both parties, rather than an incident that will carry on throughout the year, largely because of the speed with which Norris admitted guilt. Again, if there was going to be a coming together, these were the ideal circumstances.

Finally, while Formula One’s trip to Canada was the low point of McLaren’s otherwise spectacular season to date, with or without the crash, the road ahead is quite promising. The next four races are at Austria, Silverstone, Belgium, and Hungary. During those four events last season, the pair combined for a win, 5 podiums, and 7 top five’s. It’s far better to crash on a bad weekend than to squander one of these upcoming races where the team enters as the clear favorites.

The 2025 Formula One season continues June 29th with the Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring.