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George Russell claimed his first victory of the season at the recent Canadian Grand Prix, sharing the podium with teammate Andrea Kimi Antonelli. However, it was Lando Norris who dominated the headlines after the race, following a highly anticipated and controversial collision with teammate Oscar Piastri in the final stages of the race. Former driver Juan Pablo Montoya has since urged Norris to be less emotional in future races.
Lando Norris had a disastrous race weekend in Canada. The McLaren driver disappointed in the qualifying round, only managing to secure the seventh fastest time in his highly competitive MCL39 on Saturday. During the race, he fought his way forward, but an unnecessary collision with teammate Oscar Piastri resulted in the Brit returning home without any championship points. This is not the first time this season that Norris appears to have buckled under pressure. Meanwhile, Piastri has extended his lead in the championship to 22 points.
‘Norris is too emotional’
Former Formula 1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya emphasized to CasinoHawks that Norris made a significant error in Montreal. “He actually made two big mistakes,” said the Colombian. “Firstly, in the qualifying round. Q3 was a complete disaster. In recent weeks, he seemed to have the situation under control and was often faster than Piastri. But now, he reached Q3 and just couldn’t pull it off. And that’s hard to see, because he seemed to be faster than his teammate again. Meanwhile, Piastri can simply take advantage undisturbed.”
“Norris is just too emotional,” Montoya sighed. “I really like him. I empathize with him because of those emotions – every time he puts himself in a difficult situation. He is so calm and performs so well throughout the weekend. And then he gets to Q3 and suddenly thinks: ‘I can’t mess this up now.’ But you know, the moment you think you can’t go wrong, that’s usually when it does go wrong.”
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Where Was the Penalty?
Montoya stated that Norris colliding with his teammate during the race was at least as unnecessary. “I think he believed he could just squeeze through,” the Colombian explained. “On a straight line, you might just get away with it if you put the car a bit on the grass, but there was a turn coming up. Even if Piastri had given him some room and Norris had overtaken on the grass, his car would probably have spun out. So it would never have worked, even if he hadn’t hit Piastri. That impatience is so unnecessary. You should force Piastri to make mistakes, instead of making them yourself.”
The McLaren driver received a five-second time penalty for the incident – a meaningless sanction, as he did not finish the race. Norris’ seemingly mild punishment raised questions about the lack of penalty points on his license, or a grid penalty for the next race in Austria. Montoya agrees that the 25-year-old Brit should have been penalized more severely. “Why, if you give someone a five-second penalty for reckless driving and causing an incident, doesn’t he get at least one penalty point on his license?” he wondered. “That’s what Verstappen always complains about – that’s why he once said that British drivers are favored. Shouldn’t everyone who does something stupid get penalty points? What Norris did was very stupid. Give him a suitable penalty, or don’t penalize him at all.”
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