McLaren boss reveals fresh information behind big Norris-Piastri collision

McLaren boss clarifies true reason behind Norris/Piastri clash in Canada

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

The Canadian Grand Prix ended in tears for Lando Norris when he collided with his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri and ended the race in the wall.

Norris apologized profusely for the incident, which he called a misjudgment on his part; he simply thought he had the space to overtake, and he didn’t time it quite right. Piastri was able to finish the race, but it was a frustrating end to a weekend that already saw the papaya team on the back foot.

It resulted in plenty of discourse about “papaya rules” — or, McLaren’s mandate that its drivers race each other cleanly. Many wondered if the team might implement team orders during future battles. But the team adamantly denied that would be the case.

After McLaren’s strong performance in Austria, where Norris and Piastri battled hard but clean to come home 1-2, team principal Andrea Stella spoke more in depth about the Canada clash — and what caused it.

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“The situation last week that you referred to in Canada is a very benign situation,” he explained to media, including PlanetF1.com.

“Like the outcome was unfortunate because Lando could not finish the race and we had a contact between the two cars — but that was simply a misjudgment of proximity to the car ahead.

“And I also want to disclose the fact that Oscar was having a de-rating of the MGU-K, so like he was having less power, so the closing speed was faster than Lando could have anticipated.”

In F1, an MGU-K is a component of the hybrid power unit that captures kinetic energy from braking, then converts it into electrical energy that is stored in the battery until it’s needed later. De-rating is the process by which a system — such as the MGU-K — fails to operate at its maximum rated capacity.

If you have a cell phone, then you know how this works; when you first get your phone, it operates well. But if you constantly drain your battery, subject it to extremely hot or cold conditions, or constantly use apps that require a lot of energy, you put stress on your battery — and after a few months, you might notice your phone can’t last quite as long until it needs a charge.

In the case of Piastri’s MGU-K, it meant that Piastri was perhaps not able to deploy his battery power as expected, which allowed Norris to close up on him at a faster-than-expected rate. As Stella reiterated, it was a “benign situation; a bit of a misjudgment if anything in considering that there was enough space on the inside.”

Still, he and the team reviewed the situation, and Stella felt that Norris handled it with character.

“As soon as the car stopped, over the radio, he raised his hand, took responsibility, apologized to the team, immediately apologized to Oscar for the contact, and from then, we instigated very positive and constructive conversations,” Stella said.

He also felt that Norris was able to rally for a strong performance in Austria — one that adequately displays both the MCL39’s speed as well as the driver’s talent.

“The conversations were all about the fact that the speed is there,” Stella said of the post-Canada debrief.

“Lando pole position, victory in Monaco. When he touched the wall in qualifying in Canada, he was in line for pole position. He was the fastest car in Canada in the race for position — a fact demonstrated here for pole position in Austria.

“The speed is there. We just have to polish a few things in execution and results will come, which is what Lando has demonstrated here in Austria.

“So, very proud of Lando, very proud of how everyone handled the situation in Canada, and the fact that we end up more united and stronger.”

Still, he wouldn’t go so far as to say that the team is placing any weight on which of its drivers should be champion — not yet.

“It’s a long way to go,” Stella said.

“I think with both drivers, we need to look one race at a time, and in the one race at a time, we need to make sure that we maximize the potential, we stay in the race, and we race each other according to our approaching principles.

“And then we will see in Abu Dhabi what the outcome is.”

So, despite the contact, it sounds as if McLaren is more than content to allow Piastri and Norris to race until the very end.