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Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris are moving past their Canadian Grand Prix clash, as McLaren aims to let them to race hard under “papaya rules”.
Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri of McLaren (X)
Everything’s fair in love and Formula 1—at least at McLaren.
Oscar Piastri says he and teammate Lando Norris are moving on from their Canadian Grand Prix clash, with both drivers free to keep racing hard under McLaren’s “papaya rules.”
“Obviously, what happened in Canada wasn’t ideal,” Piastri admitted ahead of this weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix.
“But we’ve talked it through, and we’re still free to race. We’re both fighting for the championship, so we’ll keep pushing—just without making contact again.”
“What happened in Canada wasn’t ideal, but we’re free to race” 🟠Oscar Piastri says there are no changes in how McLaren approaches racing after his collision with Lando Norris in Montreal 👇 pic.twitter.com/fODheBUaSt
— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) June 26, 2025
The 24-year-old Australian said they cleared the air before even returning to team HQ in Montreal.
“Lando put his hands up and apologised, so it’s all good and I’m looking forward to going racing again.”
Piastri believes McLaren’s policy of letting its drivers race, as long as it’s clean, is the right one, especially with both contenders in the title fight.
“It’s obviously a difficult one to navigate, but that’s a good problem to have in some ways,” he said.
“The biggest and most important thing was just that things remain fair from as many aspects as you can.
“Obviously, there are certain situations that are not always going to be completely fair, whether it’s strategy because there’s only one pit box or some other things, but I think that’s the biggest thing for both of us.
Reflecting on the Canada incident, where Norris misjudged a move and made contact while fighting Piastri for fourth, he praised the team’s handling of the situation. Piastri recovered to finish fourth, while Norris had to retire.
“Before Canada, we’d done a good job managing those risks. I think we handled it well there and since.”
Heading into round 11 of 24, Piastri leads Norris by 22 points, with Max Verstappen 24 points further back in third. Norris, who also had a run-in with Verstappen at last year’s Austrian GP, will be hoping for a clean, confidence-boosting weekend in Spielberg.
(with AFP inputs)
After training in the field of broadcast media, Siddarth, as a sub-editor for News18 Sports, currently dabbles in putting together stories, from across a plethora of sports, onto a digital canvas. His long-term…Read More
After training in the field of broadcast media, Siddarth, as a sub-editor for News18 Sports, currently dabbles in putting together stories, from across a plethora of sports, onto a digital canvas. His long-term… Read More
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