McLaren driver Lando Norris said he made a fool of himself when he collided with teammate Oscar Piastre during the Formula One Canadian Grand Prix.
Norris did not finish the race in Montreal last night after colliding with Piastre in the final lap. He damaged the car, and Piastre continued the race to finish fourth. Norris is now 22 points behind Piastre in second place in the championship.
"I didn't expect to pass Oscar on the outside at turn one. I just shouldn't have gone for it. I thought he was starting to turn a little to the right, so I thought I had a small chance to turn left. But it was too much of a risk, especially for my teammate. I'm glad nothing happened to him. I paid the price for my mistake," Norris said, according to the BBC.
McLaren allows its drivers to fight it out, and both are contenders for the championship, along with Red Bull's Max Verstappen, who finished second in Montreal, behind Mercedes' George Russell.
Piastre is first with 198 points, Norris has 176, and Verstappen has 155 points.
"Our first rule is no contact with a teammate and that's what I did. McLaren is my family. I race for them, every weekend. I try to be good for them, more than I often try to be good for myself. So when I let them down like this and make a fool of myself, like I did now, I regret it a lot," Norris said.
He accepted the blame immediately after the race and thus somehow preserved the good atmosphere in the team.
"Lando is a very good guy, it's in his character and personality to say exactly what he thinks. And if it's harmful to him or if it concerns him, then it doesn't matter to him and I think that's a great trait of Lando. It's good for the team to be able to have these conversations, to compete like this and to be able to overcome things that don't go the way we want," said Piastre.
The championship continues in two weeks with the race for the Austrian Grand Prix.
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