Jacques Villeneuve pinpoints what will now ‘help’ Lando Norris in 2025 title fight with Oscar Piastri

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Lando Norris’ title chances in 2025 were dented after he crashed out of the Canadian Grand Prix. The Brit collided with his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri in the closing stages.

Norris was outqualified again by Piastri in Montreal as he could only manage P7. Damon Hill questioned what Norris was doing as he blew his chances of a solid grid position and damaged his title hopes.

In the race, the McLarens struggled to make up ground, running P4 and P5 after Piastri lost out to Kimi Antonelli at the start. Norris had shown stronger pace and looked to pass his teammate in the final few laps.

But on lap 67, the pair came together in an incident that was reminiscent of Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button’s crash at the 2011 Canadian Grand Prix. Norris tried to pass on the inside down the main straight, but hit Piastri’s back left tyre and slammed into the wall.

Norris was classified in 18th, while his teammate carried on to finish fourth as the race ended under the safety car. George Russell compared the crash to McLaren’s 2011 incident in the cooldown room after the race; the Mercedes driver claimed his fourth career win in Montreal.

Jacques Villeneuve thinks being the ‘underdog’ will ‘help’ Lando Norris battle Oscar Piastri

While he finished off the podium for only the second time this season, Piastri has extended his lead in the drivers’ championship over Norris by 22 points. Max Verstappen is now 43 points behind the Aussie after finishing second.

With him now almost a race win’s worth of points behind his teammate, Norris has a mountain to climb to get the edge over Piastri. But Jacques Villeneuve thinks being the ‘underdog’ will ‘help’ the Brit in his bid to become the world champion.

Speaking via Sky Sports F1, the 1997 F1 champion assessed the accident in Canada: “Well, now he knows how Piastri will do in the races. So, he won’t be surprised anymore.

“And he was quicker. He’s generally been quicker in races. He just needs to figure out his qualifying because that’s been up and down, but he still has the edge on speed.

“He’s behind in the points, so he’s more the underdog now instead of the championship leader, and that might help him.”

Lando Norris has things to iron out after latest 2025 setback

Norris was quick to admit full responsibility for the crash, labelling the move as ‘silly’. F1 fans loved Norris’ response as he showed great maturity to take the blame for the incident.

What will be crucial for the 25-year-old now is how he will bounce back from a damaging weekend. Piastri has proven again that he is stronger in qualifying in 2025, while another mistake in Norris’ racecraft has put him on the back foot in the title race.

Martin Brundle noticed a ‘glitch’ from Norris in Q3, having topped Q1 and finished second in Q2. He will need to iron out his issues over one lap, with Piastri now holding an advantage.

Nico Rosberg says Andrea Stella must ‘talk’ to Norris after his crash with his teammate. While he does not think it is necessary to place blame, the 2016 champion highlighted how important it is to debrief and learn from this mistake.