"Not acceptable": McLaren boss condemns Lando Norris-Oscar Piastri's expensive mishap in Canada

Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri's 2025 Canadian GP crash has not sat well with the McLaren team principal, Andrea Stella. The duo collided on lap 67 with Norris going into the back of Piastri's MCL39, costing the team a whole lot of money.

Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri are fighting for the Driver's championship, and hence, Norris was overly aggressive in his attempt to overtake Piastri for P4. However, the whole ordeal ended in misery for Norris (DNF) and the McLaren F1 team.

In line with this, during a post-race interaction, Andrea Stella brutally deemed the incident as 'unacceptable'.

"Well, we never want to see a McLaren car involved in an accident and definitely we don’t want to see the two McLarens having contact, so this situation is a situation that we know is not acceptable," Stella said, via F1.

After the end of the 2025 Canadian Grand Prix weekend, Lando Norris is still in second position in the Drivers' championship with 176 points. Oscar Piastri, on the other hand, has extended his points tally to 198 with his fourth-place finish. Red Bull's Max Verstappen (reigning world champion) is in third, having put 155 on the board.

McLaren pleased with Lando Norris 'apologizing' for Canadian GP mistake

F1 Grand Prix of Canada - Source: Getty

While Andrea Stella has deemed the two papayas' collision unacceptable, Lando Norris took ownership of his mistake and publicly apologized to his McLaren team, immediately after the race.

Stella, via F1, asserted that he was pleased to see the Brit apologize for his error in judgment during a high-pressure moment of the Canadian GP. He added:

"At the same time, we appreciate that Lando immediately owned it and apologised to the team, which for us sort of reset the situation. I’m sure he has an important learning point coming from this race, he paid a price in the championship. Like I said, we appreciate his behaviour straight after the accident and we will go racing again."

Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri are chasing their maiden F1 championship this year. The fight has been cut-throat between the two, but Piastri, on most occasions, has been able to get the better of his teammate. After the first 10 rounds, Piastri has already amassed five Grand Prix wins in comparison to Norris' two.

Round 11 of the ongoing campaign will take place at the picturesque Red Bull Ring for the Austrian Grand Prix. The circuit is 4.318 km, and the race takes place for a total of 71 laps. The 2024 edition of the race was won by Mercedes' George Russell.

Lando Norris will need an extremely strong outing at the Red Bull Ring to significantly close the gap to Piastri in the 2025 standings.