Max Verstappen and George Russell agreed that there “was not really a gap” for Lando Norris in his battle with McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri at the Canadian Grand Prix. 

Norris and Piastri made contact while duelling for fourth place in the closing stages of Sunday’s race in Montreal in the first major collision between the F1 2025 title contenders.

Max Verstappen and George Russell united on Lando Norris mistake

Norris was out on the spot after sustaining terminal damage to his MCL39, with Piastri coming home fourth after making a precautionary pit stop under Safety Car conditions.

Norris, who was given a five-second time penalty for the clash, immediately owned up to his mistake, with the British driver seeking out the Australian in the TV pen in the paddock to apologise directly to his team-mate.

Piastri now holds a 22-point lead over Norris ahead of next weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix, the 11th round of the F1 2025 season.

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Russell claimed his first victory of the year in Canada with Verstappen finishing second and Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Russell’s Mercedes team-mate, collecting his maiden podium finish with third place.

The contact between the McLaren drivers proved the main talking point in the cooldown room as the top-three drivers prepared for the podium ceremony in Montreal.

As Norris and Piastri are shown battling over fourth place at the hairpin on Lap 66, Antonelli – marginally ahead of the McLaren pair at the time in third place – admits that he was unsure who to give a slipstream to as the papaya cars closed in on him.

The full exchange went as follows:

Russell: “This is going to be the lap surely, no?”

Antonelli: “No, this the lap. I was a bit uncertain over who to give the slipstream to, you know. They were both DRS, I was like: ‘Left or right?’”

Verstappen: “So what did you do? In the middle?”

The trio laughed heartily at Verstappen’s quip before they were shown the decisive moment between Norris and Piastri on the main straight at the start of Lap 67.

Russell and Verstappen demonstrated an impressive grasp of F1 history, clocking instantly that the incident came at the same spot then-McLaren drivers Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button came to blows in the famous 2011 race in Montreal.

Russell: “That’s literally like Lewis and Button in 2011.”

Verstappen: “Yes, 2011. Yeah.”

Russell: “I mean… there was not really a gap there, was there?”

Verstappen: “No.”

Norris lost his front wing in the initial contact with Piastri, with his left-front corner destroyed as the McLaren slid along the barrier.

Antonelli remarked that it was a “scary” incident before Verstappen pointed out that the barrier has been extended on the pit wall to prevent out-of-control cars from heading across the grass in the direction of Turn 2.

Antonelli: “That was scary, though.”

Russell: “Yeah, ’cause that could have…”

Verstappen: “Luckily, they put that barrier there.”

Russell: “Yeah, to be honest.”

Antonelli: “Oh, yeah! Because oh my God. For me, I would have cut the chicane straight.”

More on Max Verstappen and George Russell from PlanetF1.com

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Verstappen and Russell have had an uneasy relationship over recent years, with the pair embroiled in a war of words in the closing rounds of the 2024 season in Qatar and Abu Dhabi.

Verstappen was left enraged by what he perceived as Russell’s exaggerated attempts to land the Red Bull driver a grid penalty in Qatar, with Russell openly criticising the four-time World Champion ahead of the season finale a week later.

With Verstappen on the brink of a race ban in Canada after an ugly incident between the pair in Spain, Russell quipped after he and Verstappen qualified first and second on the grid that he would try to exploit the Red Bull driver’s situation on race day in Montreal.

During his post-qualifying interview on the grid, he said: “We’re mates so it’s all good. I’ve got a few more points on my licence to play with!”

Russell and Verstappen were once again involved in a tit-for-tat battle behind the Safety Car in the closing laps in Canada, where the pair complained about each other over team radio.

Russell’s suggestion that Verstappen overtook him under Safety Car conditions was met with a dim response by Christian Horner, the Red Bull team principal, who claimed the Mercedes driver was trying to land his rival in trouble.

Horner said: “I think you could hear from George’s press comments yesterday [after qualifying], his objective was reasonably clear.

“So I don’t think there were any surprises with that.”

Red Bull responded by protesting the race result by accusing Russell of driving erratically behind the Safety Car as well as dropping too far behind the pace car.

However, Red Bull’s protest was rejected with Russell’s fourth career victory eventually ratified hours after the race.

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