Norris downplays Monza contact with Piastri

Lando Norris has brushed off the significance of his contact with teammate Oscar Piastri during the Italian Grand Prix.

After Piastri’s pit stop to switch to the Hard tyres, he rejoined the circuit alongside Norris, who had pitted the lap prior.

The pair went side-by-side into the first corner and banged wheels, but both managed to escape damage.

Norris went on to finish the race in eighth place, while Piastri was demoted out of the points after a collision later in the race with Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton.

Reflecting on his own incident with Piastri, Norris told media including RacingNews365: "I guess he was just on cold tyres or something so he just had a bit of understeer.

"I tried to leave enough of a gap. It’s just impossible to see, very difficult to see in the mirror.

"I left a big gap but just Hard and cold tyres is not a nice combination. And I guess he just ran into my rear tyre.

"We respect each other. We give each other space and it’s unfortunate but nothing happened, so it’s OK."

Norris praises Albon

Much of Norris’ race was spent behind the Williams of Alexander Albon, who utilised the straight-line strength of the FW45 to remain ahead of the McLaren.

Although Norris was left frustrated by being unable to overtake his rival despite launching several attacks, the Briton commended Albon’s racecraft.

"I’ve been in this position a lot over the last few years," he said.

"But credit to Alex, he drove a very good race. He didn't make any mistakes, which is annoying. But I tried. We had good battles.

"I tried quite a bit. But they were too quick for us in the straights, even with the DRS, I [was catching him] by maybe two or three kilometres an hour [but it wasn't enough]."