1997 F1 World Champion Jacques Villeneuve believes Oscar Piastri moved across on Lando Norris in a “nasty” fashion.

The two McLarens came together in the closing stages of the Canadian Grand Prix, resulting in Norris retiring from the race after colliding with the concrete pit wall.

Jacques Villeneuve labels Oscar Piastri movement ‘nasty’

With Kimi Antonelli occupying the last podium place, the two McLarens attacked the Mercedes driver with gusto in the closing laps of the race at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

Piastri, in fourth, had DRS to put Antonelli under pressure, but also had to worry about the attentions of Norris directly behind – the British driver on fresher tyres and also having DRS.

Norris made an opportunistic move into the hairpin to catch Piastri off-guard, with the pair then having a drag race – with DRS open – all the way up the back straight.

Piastri asserted his authority into the chicane but his resulting lack of speed left him vulnerable to Norris down the next straight. The British driver attempted to pre-empt a gap on the inside approach to Turn 1, but the gap never opened up as Piastri held his line.

Norris collected the back of his teammate’s McLaren and lost control, hitting the concrete wall and tearing his car apart as Piastri continued down the road with no damage.

Piastri duly came home in fourth to open up a 22-point lead over Norris in the Drivers’ Championship, while Norris clambered out of his car to make his way back to the McLaren garage.

Offering his perspective on the incident as he took to his own Instagram channel, Jacques Villeneuve said Piastri’s actions contributed to the incident.

“The clash between the two McLaren drivers, [it was] easy to point the finger at Norris,” he said.

“He realised too late that Piastri was moving towards the left because he had his nose in the gearbox of Piastri, he didn’t realise it and Piastri was edging gradually towards the left.

“He’s not supposed to be doing that, it was a little bit nasty, so there will be some talks later inside the team.”

What records are in progress during the F1 season?

👉 F1 race wins: Which drivers have the highest win totals in F1 history?

👉 F1 points all-time rankings: Where do Hamilton, Verstappen and Alonso feature?

Villeneuve’s perspective is certainly different from that of all of those involved, including Norris.

The British driver immediately took to team radio to apologise for hitting Piastri, seeking out his teammate to admit “My bad” in the media pen, and accepted full responsibility for the clash.

With McLaren CEO Zak Brown thanking him publicly for his “candour”, Piastri praised Norris’ willingness to admit his error in judgment and said it was a great quality to have.

The FIA stewards, who summoned the two drivers before them to explain the incident, also sided with Piastri and hit Norris with a five-second time penalty, which had no impact as Norris – classified in 18th with over 90 percent of the race completed – served the penalty in the Canadian results.

Villeneuve’s opinion on the clash was also at odds with the thoughts of McLaren team boss Andrea Stella, who said the team “appreciated” Norris’ immediate reaction in accepting the blame.

“We did appreciate the fact that Lando immediately owned the situation, raised his hand, and took responsibility for the accident,” he said.

“He apologised immediately to the team. He came to apologise to me as team principal in order to apologise to the entire team.

“It’s important the way we respond and we react to these situations, which ultimately will be a very important learning point.

“I don’t think it’s learning from a theoretical point of view, because the principle was already there, but it’s learning in terms of experiencing how painful these situations can be, and this will only make us stronger in terms of our internal competition and in terms of the way we go racing.”

With the race ending under a Safety Car as a consequence of the McLaren clash, Villeneuve suggested that a full red flag may have been the better option for the sake of excitement.

“What could have been, should have been an exciting race, turned into a not-so-exciting race,” he said.

“The end of the race – I mean, the rules allow for red flags so we can have a new start for a two-lap sprint, always exciting, and they decided to have a boring safety car finish. Well, too bad.”

Read Next: Uncovered: Oscar Piastri’s incredible reaction to Norris clash in untelevised Canadian GP team radio