McLaren issue verdict over bombshell Lando Norris - Oscar Piastri crash

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella echoed Lando Norris' admission of fault for his costly clash with Oscar Piastri at the Canadian Grand Prix.

The team-mates came to blows with three laps of the 70 remaining at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve as they fought over fourth position.

Norris, having started seventh, had used beginning the race on the hard compound to his advantage. This left him able to attack Piastri - who had fallen back from third on the grid when Kimi Antonelli overtook his MCL39 on the opening lap - in the late stages in Montreal.

With 10 points separating the pair in the drivers' championship standings, a tense on-track battle ensued which ultimately came to a head when Norris tried to overtake against the pit wall on the start/finish straight.

In a move that mirrored Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button's crash for McLaren at the same spot in 2011, the British driver hit the back of Piastri, taking off his front wing before contact with the wall broke the front left corner of his car, sending him into retirement.

"Well, we never want to see a McLaren involved in an accident," Stella told Sky Sports F1 when asked about the incident.

"And definitely, we never want to see the two McLarens touching each other," he said before agreeing that Norris was at fault for a "misjudgement" of the attempted overtake on the Australian.

"It's something definitely that we need to review, because this is a very clear principle. At the same time, it's a contact that happened because of a misjudgement.

"Just Lando misjudged the distance to the car ahead, and therefore there was no mal-intent, I have to say.

"And Lando owned immediately, took responsibility for that, which we appreciate, but certainly something to discuss and review.

"And, you know, the principles [papaya rules] are already in place. I think our drivers will have something to learn further, and we go racing again."

Stella added: "It is absolutely a misjudgment, absolutely a misjudgment which did cost Lando quite a lot in the championship.

"He was about to score many more points for the team - so definitely an incident that should have not happened."

Rejection of a potential crash trigger

The points deficit now stands at 22, but both drivers have been called before the stewards over the incident and Piastri is also under investigation for a potential safety car infringement, which came out following the crash.

The race ended under those conditions, with Piastri taking fourth after all.

When it was put to Stella that Will Joseph, Norris' race engineer, was encouraging his driver as if Piastri an "enemy combatant" of a rival as opposed to a team-mate, the Italian quashed any such suggestion.

"No, I think the messages didn't have any particular bias for the fact that the car ahead was his team-mate, it would have been the same with any other car," the 54-year-old said.