Former Haas team principal Guenther Steiner has insisted that Lando Norris will not win the F1 drivers' title this season, after judging the Briton's clash in Canada with Oscar Piastri as "not on".
Norris retired from the Canadian Grand Prix after crashing into the pit wall on lap 67, following contact with the rear of Piastri's car.
It was an overtaking attempt which was never on for the McLaren driver, who immediately accepted full responsibility for causing the crash.
The crash marked Norris' latest and biggest mistake of the year, with Steiner identifying that the title cannot be won based on his current problems.
"It's not on," said Steiner, speaking on the Red Flags podcast. "I think it was a proper mistake, and Lando said it was a mistake, but you cannot make mistakes like this if you want to win a world championship.
"And for that I guess, he will not be winning the world championship. And you know I rate Lando very highly, but in these situations he just loses his head all the time."
Viewed by others:
McLaren to make major Norris call
Remarkably, Piastri did not sustain damage in the incident and continued to finish in fourth at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
However, with Max Verstappen finished ahead in second, the Australian's title lead over the Dutchman decreased to 43 points, whilst Norris is 22 points behind his team-mate.
In Steiner's eyes, a crucial call must be made by Woking-based outfit for Norris to support Piastri's title pursuit.
"Yeah, I think they will do that also, but maybe not publicly, but at some stage, because what it is, as we could see, the McLaren was not the dominating car here anymore," said Steiner.
"You need to start to be careful, who is coming, and you need to think about everything. Obviously, they've got a very good advantage in the constructors', but last year, also, Red Bull was leading, McLaren was coming, so they need to be careful.
"But not only that, the damage done like this. They were lucky that he didn't take Oscar out, because in a normal circumstance, you've got a flat tyre, that's what it is.
"I don't know how that didn't happen that he didn't get a flat tyre."
Also interesting:
Join RacingNews365's Ian Parkes, Sam Coop and Nick Golding, as they dissect a controversial Canadian Grand Prix. Red Bull's rejected protest against George Russell's victory and the shock intra-team crash between Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri are main talking points.
Rather watch the podcast? Then click here!
Most read
In this article
Join the conversation!