Ralf Schumacher slams Lando Norris: “McLaren has already picked Piastri as their lead driver”. Ralf Schumacher has criticised Lando Norris after his Canadian GP mistake,.

Lando Norris, what a mistake in Canada
Lando Norris’ error at the end of the Canadian Grand Prix could prove to be a significant one in terms of the championship standings. Of course, there is still a long way to go in the World Championship with many points up for grabs, but the collision with Oscar Piastri (which led to Lando Norris’ retirement) could affect the internal hierarchy at McLaren—despite team principal Andrea Stella reassuring that the “papaya rules” will remain in force.

It was a mistake that Norris himself described as big and stupid, and frankly it’s hard not to agree with the vice world champion. He attempted an overtake to the left of the main straight, where there was no space at all to do so. Fortunately for Piastri, Norris’ move didn’t cost him a retirement that could have allowed Max Verstappen—who finished second in Montreal—to close the gap even further. However, after the Canadian Grand Prix, several observers pointed out that McLaren may soon need to make a clear choice between Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri to avoid losing more valuable points in the fight for the Drivers’ Championship.

Ralf Schumacher’s comments
According to Ralf Schumacher, that choice has already been made: “I think it has already been decided internally that Oscar Piastri is the man the team will back,” he told Germany’s Sky Deutschland. “Lando is showing too much weakness and is making too many mistakes. On top of that, there’s how he handled the situation after the incident with Oscar Piastri. He apologized, which shows he’s a nice person—but nice people rarely win titles.”

Regardless of whether criticizing someone who admits their mistakes and apologizes is fair, the younger brother of Michael Schumacher shares the opinion of several commentators who believe Norris is extremely fast but too mentally fragile. Nico Rosberg even offered to help him work on this. However, Ralf Schumacher believes such efforts might not be enough: “You can’t turn a cow into a tiger. Lando knows he’s capable, but he also knows he can throw it all away with one small mistake. Drivers like Piastri, Fernando Alonso, and Max Verstappen just get on with it and focus on driving. Lando is different. He’s good in race pace, but during qualifying it would be better if he just switched off his mind and focused on what’s most fun for a driver—pushing as hard as possible on track.”