Lando Norris says conversations with his McLaren Formula 1 team were "not the most joyful" after crashing into his team-mate Oscar Piastri in the Canadian Grand Prix.
Norris cost himself a strong points finish in Canada and was lucky not to jeopardise Piastri's fourth-place finish when he ran into the back of him on the start/finish straight.
He immediately took responsibility for the incident and apologised to Piastri, something McLaren greatly appreciated.
But McLaren team principal Andrea Stella said conversations with its drivers about avoiding a repeat would follow the Montreal race, "and the conversations may even be tough".
Arriving at the Austrian GP off the back of the lowest moment of his stop-start 2025 title bid, Norris was inevitably asked how those talks went.
"Talks have been talks and there's been a good amount of talks, but...there's been good understanding of everything: realising my thoughts, and understanding things from both my side and explaining that to the team," Norris said.
"I think I made it clear from the immediate moment that I misjudged it and I took the fall for it. Of course, not the most joyful conversations, but conversations that needed to be had clearly and obviously from us as a team, because it's not just about myself, it is how we perform as a team and we all know what rule number one was and continues [to be] and will always be.
"Some very constructive things and in an unfortunate way but a good way, many things have come out stronger than I would say they were prior to the weekend, which [you] might not expect, but I think it's a good outcome.
"Through an unfortunate circumstance, a lot's been learned and a lot of things have turned into being stronger than they were before, which is it's a good thing for all of us."
Asked if it was easy to move on from the incident, Norris said: "I almost forgot about it until earlier today, so I feel good."
But he said the most difficult thing to get over was knowing he had let McLaren down.
"It took me a little time because for me, my team means everything," Norris explained.
"The people that I've grown up with, the people who have given me my opportunity in Formula 1 and I want to win with McLaren.
"So for me, for what happened in Montreal to have happened, with my team-mate - disregarding whether it was with any other car, but it was my team-mate - this is probably the most painful part for me, because it's the last thing that I would ever want: to have it between me and my and my team-mate.
"But of course [also] for the action to come from me. So I felt bad. I felt very bad for the team and all the people who work in McLaren.
"So it was a tough couple of days, but also I think something I've got better at is dealing with those moments and speaking to Andrea, my team around me, Zak [Brown, McLaren Racing CEO], and trying to move on as quickly as possible was very important.
"So [I'm] coming into this weekend with that in the past and go again."
Norris admitted "I've been making more mistakes" than Piastri and accepted that was a critical factor in his current 22-point deficit in the championship to his team-mate.
Piastri: I won't do anything differently
Piastri was unlikely to stick the boot in given Norris's very public apology and the fact Piastri walked away with his result unharmed - instead getting a handy swing in the title fight.
But he also refuted any suggestions that Norris making such an obvious error has handed him any kind of psychological boost in their battle.
"I'm enjoying the position I'm in at the moment. It's a position I've been in before in my junior career," Piastri said.
"I look at it quite simply: it normally means you're doing something right if you're leading a championship. That's not to say there aren't things I can improve on; Canada was a scrappy weekend.
"There have been a couple this year that have not been as good as I wanted, but there have also been a lot that have looked as good as I wanted.
"I'm just trying to make every weekend look like that - that's the most important thing. What's happening with anyone else on the grid, I'm not really concerned by.
"Ultimately, to try and win the championship, I need to put my best foot forward. If I do that, then I know it’s enough to win."
Piastri added: "I don't think it will change anything.
"For me, I certainly won't do anything different, I won't behave any differently.
"If Lando's going to do anything different, that's for him to answer, but I don't expect anything to change."
The talk of nothing changing might sound like PR speak but it's ultimately the most sensible approach for both drivers.
Norris is focused on not making more critical errors and Piastri is focused on continuing to do the best job he can, regardless of how Norris's error rate fluctuates.
