When Lando Norris crashed into the back of Oscar Piastri going down the start/finish straight at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, it echoed the famous Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button clash over 10 years ago at the same place.
Hamilton and Button were racing in the tricky wet conditions, with the former using the slipstream to pull alongside his teammate before they both collided along the pit wall.
The impact damaged Hamilton’s rear suspension, while Button was able to continue but was later issued a time penalty by the stewards.
It was the crash that preceded one of the most impressive runs to a victory in F1, with Button going on to win the race from last place, while many picked up on the similarities between Norris and Piastri’s crash in Canada.
Analysing the two incidents on F1 TV, former driver Jolyon Palmer points out one key difference between the two collisions.
Lewis Hamilton had his tyres alongside where Lando Norris did not
The main difference between the two incidents was how Hamilton had already pulled alongside Button to make the overtake, therefore earning the right to space.
“Lewis Hamilton tried to pull a pass on Jenson Button on exactly the same pass on the same part of track. Little bit different because it’s wet and Hamilton this time gets an overlap with Button,” said Palmer.
“But crucially, Lewis had his tyres alongside, so he had a bit of space to go rather than driving into the back of his teammate. This one was a bit more 50/50, at the time Jenson said he didn’t see Lewis.”
Norris admitted it was his fault, which enabled him to move on from the incident without too much media scrutiny, but there was still one overarching problem.
READ MORE: McLaren driver Lando Norris’ life outside F1 from parents to celebration
Lando Norris making too many mistakes under pressure
Much of last season for Norris was characterised by the mistakes he made, and he was meant to have ironed these out during the winter break. Palmer thinks we are starting to see these creep back into his race weekends.
“Under pressure, we are just seeing these errors a couple of times. Qualifying in Q3 wasn’t good for him; he made two errors on his laps and started seventh,” said Palmer.
“He had a better pace than Piastri the whole weekend, but didn’t use it in qualifying, and when he had a chance in the race, he made a big mistake.
Nico Rosberg thinks Oscar Piastri is now the championship favourite after Canada, while Jenson Button thinks Norris is in a good headspace despite the problems.
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