Lando Norris told what he must do to win F1 title after ‘clumsy’ error

Lando Norris’s F1 title chances have been assessed by Martin Brundle following his “very clumsy” error at the Canadian Grand Prix.

Norris ran into the back of McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri as they battled in the closing stages of Sunday’s race in Montreal, with the Briton suffering race-ending damage.

Piastri was able to pit for repairs under the subsequent Safety Car and held onto fourth to extend his F1 championship lead over his title rival to 22 points after the opening 10 rounds.

Norris accepted total blame for the collision with Piastri and admitted he “made a fool” of himself in the incident.

Sky Sports F1 co-commentator Brundle described Norris’s move as “very clumsy” and “unnecessary”.

"Oscar did well to see the first move coming because Lando was a long way behind when he launched it into Turn 10,” Brundle said.

"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.”

Norris needs to bring A-game every weekend

With 14 races still to go, Brundle does not believe Norris has blown his chances of winning a maiden world championship.

However, the former grand prix driver says Norris cannot afford any more scrappy weekends and must bring his “A-game” to every race if he is to overturn his deficit to Piastri.

"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,” Brundle added.

“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.

"Lando won't win a World Championship unless he can stop these weekends happening. It's as simple as that.

"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."