Zak Brown, the McLaren chief executive, has welcomed Lando Norris’s “candor” for apologising to team-mate Oscar Piastri after their dramatic collision in the Canadian Grand Prix.

Norris and Piastri made contact in the closing stages of Sunday’s race in Montreal while contesting fourth place.

Zak Brown praises Lando Norris’s ‘candor’ after Oscar Piastri collision

The British driver was out on the spot after making contact with the pit wall, with Piastri escaping from the incident to extend his World Championship lead over Norris to 22 points with 10 races of the F1 2025 season completed.

Norris, who was handed a five-second time penalty for the incident, immediately owned up to his mistake over team radio before seeking out Piastri in the television pen in the paddock, where he apologised directly to his team-mate.

Speaking to the media after the race, the 25-year-old conceded that there was “no one to blame but myself” for “attempting something probably a bit too silly.”

The Canadian Grand Prix was eventually won by George Russell, who took Mercedes’ first victory of F1 2025 with Max Verstappen second and Andrea Kimi Antonelli third.

Analysis: Canadian Grand Prix

👉 Canadian GP conclusions: Lando’s silver lining, Ferrari sack fears, key Russell change

👉 Canadian GP driver ratings: George Russell isn’t the only perfect racer

Taking to social media in the aftermath of the race, Brown congratulated Mercedes and Antonelli, the 18-year-old rookie, for claiming the first podium finish of his F1 career.

And he made a point of recognising Norris’s honesty for admitting his error in battle with Piastri.

Brown wrote: “Congrats Mercedes & Kimi on that first podium. Great stops from the team, with fast cars and drivers.

“And so, it happened.

“Appreciate the candor, Lando. Solid race Oscar.

“We learn. We go again together.”

Brown’s message was accompanied by an emoji of an orange love heart, a reference to McLaren’s papaya colour scheme.

More on McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri from PlanetF1.com

👉 Lando Norris news

👉 Oscar Piastri news

Brown’s comments come after Andrea Stella, the McLaren team principal, vowed that Norris and Piastri will remain free to race in F1 2025 – and claimed that the incident in Canada will only make the team “stronger” going forward.

He said: “We said a few times that it [a collision] wasn’t a matter of if, it was more a matter of when, and the ‘when’ is Canada 2025.

“We never want to see the two McLarens having contact. This is part of our principles. We saw it today.

“This is just a result of a miscalculation, a misjudgement from a racing point of view, which obviously should not happen.

“But, at the same time, is part of racing.

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

“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.”

Read next: Lando Norris telemetry data sheds further light as McLarens collide at Canada GP