The battle between the two McLaren drivers came to a head in the Canadian Grand Prix when Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri collided in the closing stages of the race.
The pair were battling over fourth place as the top five places started to converge at the end, with Piastri able to use DRS he gained from Andrea Kimi Antonelli to defend from Norris.
But Norris pulled off a late overtake at the Turn 10 hairpin, with Piastri able to cut back and run side-by-side as they accelerated onto the back straight.
Piastri would outbrake Norris into the final chicane but had a bad exit, enabling Norris to use the slipstream heading down the start/finish straight. Moments later, the Briton would make a catastrophic error by pulling to the inside of the barrier and colliding with the rear of Piastri.
With a broken front wing and suspension, Norris parked up on the spot and retired. He forfeited 10 points and Piastri is now over 20 points ahead in the title race.
When asked about the clash at the recent F1 film launch by Sky Sports, former driver Jenson Button felt Norris did something that could define how he bounces back from the error in the upcoming races.
Jenson Button feels Lando Norris is in a good mental place
Nico Rosberg thought Norris would enter a ‘negative spiral’ after the race, drawing on his own experience from when he collided with Lewis Hamilton when they were teammates.
Button feels Norris has shown that he is in a good mental place, after he immediately took the blame for the clash with Piastri.
“This is the moment where we see whether Lando is in a good mental place and whether he can come out of this strong,” said Button.
“I think he is, I think he’s turned a corner and he really has in terms of putting it to one side and getting on with it. I’m really excited to see him move on from this.”
McLaren privately furious with Nico Rosberg’s comments
Rosberg has been critical of Norris during the stints that he has been a pundit for Sky Sports, with the 2016 world champion now declaring that Piastri is the title favourite after Canada.
McLaren is said to have been upset by the comments made by Rosberg, who suggested that Norris should seek out a psychologist for help.
Rosberg also recently u-turned on one of his criticisms of Piastri, following his victory at the Spanish Grand Prix.
Discussing what happened on social media, F1 fans felt that Norris did the right thing by owning up to his mistake and feel that it will help him move on in the title battle.
