Norris had closed in on Piastri as the pair battled for fourth place in the final laps at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, making a late lunge to overtake the Australian at the Turn 10 hairpin.
Piastri fought back down the back straight to retake the position, before defending against another move from Norris as they raced down the main straight. Norris attempted a move around the outside but collided with the rear of his teammate’s car.
The contact caused Norris to lose his front wing and crash into the wall, ending his race and handing McLaren its first retirement of the 2025 season.
Norris was quick to accept blame over team radio, saying: “Yep, I’m sorry. It’s all my bad, all my fault. Unlucky, sorry. Stupid from me,” before further accepting responsibility in a post-race interview with Sky Sports F1.
“(I have) no one to blame but myself,” he said. “So I apologise to the whole team and to Oscar as well for attempting something probably a bit too silly.
“(I’m) glad I didn’t ruin his race.”
Adding insult to injury, the FIA later handed a 5-second penalty on Norris for his part in the crash.
Ironically, the incident came just days after Norris predicted that a clash between the two was “probably going to happen” at some point this season.
Piastri and Norris come together in Canada! 😱
Here’s the collision between the two McLarens 💥#F1 #CanadianGP pic.twitter.com/sKo3GRQ63Q
— Formula 1 (@F1) June 15, 2025
Piastri, who recovered to finish fourth, said he hadn’t yet reviewed the footage but accepted Norris’ apology.
“Obviously it’s not ideal for anyone,” he told Sky Sports F1 after the race. “I don’t know what exactly happened, but yeah, if Lando has taken full responsibility, then that’s how it goes, I guess
“Just a bit of a tricky race in general, and not an ideal finish.”
The Melbourne driver said he had been enjoying the battle until the contact and doesn’t believe the incident will change the way the team handles their racing.
“It was definitely a tough battle, but a clean one until that point,” Piastri added. “And again, I’ve not seen the incident, but I didn’t think there were any bad intentions involved.
“I think it was just unfortunate, really. So I’ll go and have a look, obviously, but we’re both fighting for a World Championship, and I’m very thankful to the team that they allow us to race.
“I don’t expect this to change anything in terms of that.”
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella described the clash as a “misjudgement” by Norris but agreed there was no malicious intent.
“We never want to see the two McLarens touching each other,” Stella said to Sky Sports F1. “It’s something definitely that we need to review, because this is a very clear principle.
“Lando misjudged the distance to the car ahead, and therefore there was no malicious intent. And Lando took responsibility for that which we appreciate.”
Stella also dismissed suggestions that Norris had been coached differently during the race due to the intra-team battle.
“I think the messages didn’t have any particular bias for the fact that the car ahead was the teammate,” he said. “It would have been the same with any other car.”
Norris’ retirement means Piastri extends his lead in the Drivers’ Championship to 22 points, while Mercedes closes the gap to McLaren in the Constructors’ Championship to 175 points with their 1–3 finish in Canada.
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