Guenther Steiner explains why McLaren were ‘very lucky’ with Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri’s Canadian Grand Prix crash

McLaren always expected Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri would crash in their 2025 F1 title fight, and finally saw their fears materialise in last Sunday’s Canadian Grand Prix.

The papaya pals managed to avoid crashing into each other over the first nine rounds of the 2025 F1 season. But Norris retired on Lap 66 of 70 in the Canadian GP from the damage he suffered after misjudging a chance to overtake Piastri for fourth place down the pit straight.

Norris impressed some F1 fans by instantly apologising and taking full responsibility for their collision, having kept his foot flat on the throttle hoping Piastri would take a different line on the straight. It meant the 25-year-old was driving into a closed door, and retired on the spot.

Guenther Steiner thinks McLaren ‘got lucky’ Lando Norris did not retire Oscar Piastri in Canada

Timo Glock does not understand why Norris did not back out of his effort to overtake Piastri in the Canadian GP, given the 24-year-old made his intentions to move across and cover the inside at Turn 1 very clear early on. Norris’ eagerness ensured he rear-ended the Australian.

Norris just tagged Piastri’s rear-left tyre, but it immediately damaged the former’s front wing before he also clouted the pit wall which broke his front-left suspension. Guenther Steiner is even convinced that McLaren were ‘very lucky’ that Norris did not also damage Piastri’s car.

READ MORE: Every error that cost Lando Norris points in his failed 2024 F1 title challenge

Former Haas team principal Steiner thinks Piastri could easily have developed a puncture, or worse, by being hit by Norris in the Canadian GP. It would have only added to what Steiner is clear was an ‘absolutely’ frustrating race for McLaren with Norris costing his team 10 points.

“Absolutely,” Steiner told talkSPORT. “And there was no way that you can go past, and Lando clearly made a mistake there. He stood up for it in the end.

“But for McLaren, they actually got very lucky because normally in an incident like this Oscar Piastri should have had damage on his rear tyre, as well, because he drove straight into him. And then as a team you lose precious points, but not only with one car but with two cars.

“And with the championship being so competitive, you never know who is coming up in the second half of the season. And every point you lose now, you could miss out on winning the championship. So, [it is] very frustrating that something like this happens.”

McLaren likely shared Guenther Steiner’s fears with Oscar Piastri’s late pit stop in the Canadian GP

McLaren were potentially fortunate that Charles Leclerc of Ferrari was 17.787 seconds from Norris back in P6 when the Briton crashed into Piastri on L66 in the Canadian GP. The gap meant the Woking squad could pit Piastri behind the safety car without losing any positions.

READ MORE: McLaren driver Oscar Piastri’s life outside F1 from height to girlfriend

The safety car taking the field through the pit lane due to the position of Norris’ stricken car on the run to Turn 1 also helped to guarantee McLaren could pit Piastri. But as the Canadian GP was never likely to restart given the laps remaining, he could not benefit from new tyres.

Instead, McLaren likely pitted Piastri to cover the fears that Steiner has raised that the crash with Norris could have punctured the F1 drivers’ championship leader’s rear-left tyre. There was nothing that he or the papaya team could have benefited from risking leaving him out.

But the Melbourne native will have also left Montreal slightly disappointed that fourth place was all he could manage. Piastri lost P3 to Andrea Kimi Antonelli at the start of the Canadian GP and could never take the position back, as the Mercedes rookie scored his debut podium.