Lando Norris made a “clumsy” mistake when he collided with Oscar Piastri at the Canadian Grand Prix but can still win the championship if he consistently brings his “A-game”, according to Sky Sports F1‘s Martin Brundle.

Piastri and Norris collided late in Sunday’s race when fighting for fourth, with the latter hitting his team-mate’s rear tyre and crashing into the pit wall, sustaining immediate race-ending damage.

Norris, who is now 22 points behind Piastri in the title race, apologised immediately to the team for his “stupid” mistake on the run down to Turn 1.

The incident started when Norris went up the inside of Piastri at the Turn 10 hairpin, which saw the McLaren duo go side-by-side down the back straight before Norris got a better run off the final chicane but ran into his team-mate.

“Oscar did well to see the first move coming because Lando was a long way behind when he launched it into Turn 10,” said Sky Sports F1‘s Martin Brundle.

“Lando probably thought he got him because Oscar was at an acute angle into the final chicane and tight and wide. Oscar wasn’t being particularly kind to him, but then why should he? Lando seemed to persevere down that left-hand side when it wasn’t on.

“I don’t think it was anything other than not recognising early enough that it wasn’t going to happen, followed by wiping his front wing on his rear tyres. It was just very clumsy and sort of unnecessary.”

McLaren have openly acknowledged a clash between their drivers was inevitable, and said they were prepared for such a scenario.

Despite the Canada incident, team principal Andrea Stella says McLaren will not change their approach when it comes to Piastri and Norris fighting for the same position.

“I think that’s driven by two racers in Zak [Brown, McLaren Racing CEO] and Andrea,” said Brundle.

“Lando was being told use the DRS, use your battery, have a go at him. I admire that. I wouldn’t criticise that.

“The rules are, which Lando broke, you race hard, you’re both up for the championship, but don’t run into each other and only one part of that happened.

“As they’ve said frequently, it was inevitable. But, it wasn’t an inevitable championship clash, was it? They were fighting for fourth and fifth, so there’s no point in running into each other. It’s not the end of the world, far from it, but it’s difficult for Lando.”

Brundle: Norris can still win the 2025 F1 championship

Norris showed great speed throughout practice compared to Piastri, who smacked the Wall of Champions on Saturday ahead of qualifying.

But, the British driver was unable to deliver when it mattered as he qualified seventh, four places behind Piastri, which put him on the “back foot” according to Brundle.

“Lando seems to have weekends which are utterly dominant, like Melbourne and Monaco, or it just all falls apart. It was one of those weekends, sadly for him,” he said.

“He made a mistake in his first lap in Q3, he got a lap in, and then had a scruffy final lap that puts him out of position on the grid.

“He sorts all that out and really drove well in the race, actually before the incident. He bided his time, pushed when he had to and effectively recovered himself.”

Norris was 23 points ahead of Piastri after the season-opener in Melbourne where the Australian spun in treacherous conditions.

Since then, Piastri has strung together eight consecutive podiums, including five wins, and benefitted from Norris’ Montreal mistake to lead by 22 points. Brundle feels Norris is still firmly in this year’s title race but must iron out his mistakes.

“Lando won’t win a World Championship unless he can stop these weekends happening. It’s as simple as that,” he said.

“He’s got to bring his A-game pretty much all the time, like Max [Verstappen] does. Oscar’s much more solid in his delivery week in, week out, much more consistent.

“I find it really confusing that those two different levels of performance. He needs to park one and deliver the other one more often, but there’s a long way to go.

“It doesn’t mean he’s out of the championship at all. But when you look at the turnaround in points from the advantage he came away from Melbourne with, to what he’s got now, it’s a 45-point swing in that time.”

Next up for the 2025 Formula 1 season is a return to Europe for the Austrian Grand Prix, which is live on Sky Sports F1 from June 27-29. Stream Sky Sports with NOW – no contract, cancel anytime.