George Russell won a Canadian Grand Prix which exploded into drama late on as Lando Norris collided with title rival and teammate Oscar Piastri.
The buildup had all been about a contest between Russell and Max Verstappen, who had been irritated by talk of his penalty points after qualifying, but a close duel between them never materialised.
It fell to the McLaren drivers to provide the key talking point.
Norris slammed into the back of the other McLaren on Lap 66 as they vied for fourth position late on.
Norris had got a run on Piastri down the start-finish straight but as the road kinked to the right, he drifted too wide as he closed the gap to the Australian’s car and ended up in the wall.
The crash put Norris out of the race and meant Piastri extended his championship lead to 22 points.
Although the first incident between the two will generate headlines, there was no contention over what had happened — Norris refused to point the finger of blame at anyone but himself.
“Sorry,” Norris said on the radio immediately afterwards. “All my bad. All my fault. Stupid from me.”
The incident also meant the race finished under the safety car.
It helped Russell’s teammate, teenage wonderkid Andrea Kimi Antonelli, secure the first podium of his Formula 1 career.
Piastri avoided any major damage and managed to drag his car home for fourth, with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton fifth and sixth.
Hamilton, who compared driving his car to dancing with someone who doesn’t have any rhythm, had another race where he seemed was confused about his lack of pace.
“I’m nowhere in this race, mate,” Hamilton complained at one point. “Don’t know what’s happened.”
Aston Martin driver Fernando Alonso continued the turnaround of his season by finishing seventh, ahead of the in-form Nico Hulkenberg for Sauber.
Esteban Ocon finished ninth for Haas, while Carlos Sainz grabbed the final point on offer for Williams.
Piastri’s championship lead over Norris increased to 22 points, with Verstappen 21 adrift of the Briton.
The move that could well become one of the defining moments of the season came with four laps to go.
Norris had driven well on an inverted strategy from seventh on the grid to contest the final podium place with Antonelli and Piastri.
Norris had been within a second of Piastri, and with use of the DRS overtaking aid, for several laps and on lap 66 dived down the inside of his team-mate at the hairpin to take fourth place.
Piastri got the cut-back on Norris out of the corner and they drove down the back straight towards the final chicane side by side, Piastri on the inside.
Approaching the last corner, Norris braked earlier than Piastri, with the aim of getting a quicker run through the chicane and attempting a move into the first corner.
But Piastri held his line on the pit straight, and as Norris closed on him, his right front wheel and front wing ran into the back of the rival McLaren.
Norris retired on the spot with broken front suspension but Piastri was able to continue as the safety car came out, and led the pack to the chequered flag.
Norris’ engineer Will Joseph asked Norris over the radio whether he was all right and the Briton replied: “Yep, I’m sorry. It’s all my bad, all my fault. Unlucky, sorry. Stupid from me.”
The move had echoes of a similar incident between McLaren team-mates in Canada, when Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button collided in more or less the same place at this race in 2011.
But the incidents were different. In 2011, Hamilton had some of his car alongside Button, who moved over slightly. This time, Norris did not have space to edge alongside and appeared to misjudge the manoeuvre.
With 14 races to go, it is far from a fatal blow to Norris’ title hopes, but it makes his life much harder against a team-mate who on balance has had the edge on him so far this season.
By ESPN
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