Lando Norris has revealed he endured "tough" conversations with McLaren team principal Andrea Stella and CEO Zak Brown following his collision with teammate Oscar Piastri at the Canadian Grand Prix.
The British driver admitted the discussions were "not the most joyful" but necessary after the incident that saw him retire whilst Piastri finished fourth.
"It was a tough couple of days, but something I've got better at is dealing with those moments and speaking with Andrea and Zak," Norris told media ahead of this weekend's Austrian Grand Prix.
The 25-year-old described the aftermath as particularly difficult given his long-standing relationship with McLaren.
Lando Norris crashed into the back of team-mate Oscar Piastri at the Canadian Grand PrixPAThe incident occurred on lap 66 in Montreal when Norris attempted to overtake Piastri on the pit straight.
The move backfired catastrophically as Norris clipped the rear of his teammate's car whilst trying to take the inside line into turn one.
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The contact sent Norris into the pit wall, causing damage that forced his retirement from the race. Piastri continued unscathed to claim fourth place.
The result proved costly in the championship standings, with Piastri extending his advantage over Norris from 10 to 22 points.
It marked the first on-track collision between the McLaren teammates since Piastri joined the team.
Norris immediately accepted full responsibility for the clash, describing it as the "most painful" moment of his career because it involved his teammate.
"What happened in Montreal to have happened with my team-mate, disregarding whether it was with any other car, it was with my team-mate, and this was the most painful part for me, because it is the last thing I would ever want to happen," he explained.
The British driver sought out Piastri immediately after the race to apologise. He admitted feeling "bad for the team and all the people" involved in the incident.
Norris revealed the emotional toll lasted several days before he could fully process what had occurred.
Despite the difficult nature of the conversations, Norris believes McLaren has emerged stronger from the experience.
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Lando Norris now sits 22 points behind Oscar Piastri following their collisionGetty "In an unfortunate but good way, many things have come out stronger than they were prior to the weekend, which you might not expect, but it is a good outcome," he said.
The team's racing rules, known as "Papaya rules", remain unchanged following the incident.
Norris emphasised the importance of maintaining trust with Piastri to avoid the pitfalls experienced by other teams.
"We want to race each other fair and hard and on the limit and not have a repeat of what happened last time out," he stated.
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