‘Shocker’: Humiliating radio message after McLaren disaster

Oscar Piastri has been given a public apology by former world champion Nico Rosberg on a day where his teammate was humiliated.

Oscar Piastri has qualified third for the Canadian Grand Prix after a wild day of qualifying on Sunday morning (AEST).

The Australian was on top of the timesheets with 20 seconds left in Q3, but was gulped up my Max Verstappen and George Russell in their final laps on the Montreal circuit.

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The 24-year-old Melburnian earned a public apology from former F1 world champion Nico Rosberg after the German earlier wrote him off.

“The driver with the most confidence out there is definitely Lando Norris,” Rosberg said on Sky Sport on Sunday morning.

“Oscar Piastri is completely away from it at the moment.”

Rosberg put his hand up and apologised as the dust was settling on the dramatic day.

“I apologise to him personally,” he said.

“I underestimated him. I made a mistake. He was definitely in the hunt for pole position.”

Piastri said after the session he was satisfied with a spot on the second row — but it was a complete disaster for teammate Norris.

Nico Rosberg put his hand up. Photo: Sky Sports via Fox Sports.

Eyebrows were raised earlier in the day with Norris running with a new McLaren suspension system while Piastri remained on the previous system.

It didn’t seem to make any difference for the English driver, who touched the wall in his final lap to finish Q3 down in seventh.

Leading F1 journalist Nate Saunders called Norris’ qualifying failure a “shocker”.

To add insult to injury, Norris was given a humiliating lesson by his race engineer during the session when things seemed to be unravelling for the 25-year-old.

“Concentrate on the braking points,” his race engineer said during Q3.

“Concentrating on the lines. Too much time in braking.”

Mercedes' British driver George Russell took pole ahead of Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri. Photo by Geoff Robins / AFP.

Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris.

After another lap he was also told: “So Lando, let’s just re-set and remember your braking references.

“Lando, primary focus this lap is line. Remember line. Don’t overpush the brake.”

Norris was a downcast figure when interviewed after the session.

“Just too many mistakes,” he told Sky Sports.

“I hit the wall in the last lap. I had confidence, the car felt good today, I just made too many mistakes.”

He said he did not notice any difference between the two suspension systems the team ran with.

Piastri, meanwhile, said it all when he admitted he was happy to take P3.

There have been concerning signs for the constructor championship leaders at recent race weekends and team principal Andrea Stella said after Sunday’s session the Montreal race will be about “damage limitation”.

Piastri said: “After how practice went I’m pretty happy with myself.

Lando Norris is pushed into the garage. Photo by SHAWN THEW / POOL / AFP.

“A nice turnaround. It was always the question, do we want the medium or soft (tyres) for Q3? We went with the soft because we were having a lot of problems and wanted to keep things consistent.

“I’m pretty happy with third which is a bit different this year but I will definitely take it.”

The F1 grid has been rocked by McLaren’s shaky recent form, coinciding with the increased pace of Mercedes and Red Bull.

Russell produced a very special lap to take pole away from bitter rival Verstappen.

In a thrilling session on Saturday, the 27-year-old Briton repeated his feat in stealing pole at the end of the action last year to line up again with Verstappen alongside him for Red Bull’s 200th front row start.

It is Russell’s first pole this year and the sixth of his career and confirmed Mercedes potential for success at the high-speed Circuit Gilles Villeneuve — if unlike 2024 he can this time beat Verstappen.

Russell clocked a best lap in one minute and 10.899 seconds — the only sub 1.11 lap of the day — to outpace the Dutchman by 0.160 seconds.

Former world champion Nico Rosberg was also stunned by the lap from Russell.

“We just witnessed something very special. This is amazing,” he said.

“That car is not supposed to be that far in front. And at such a gap to Verstappen and Piastri. Phenomenal lap from George.”

This late drama lifted the pair, who have been engaged in a tense and verbal rivalry after clashing last year and at the Spanish Grand Prix earlier this month, clear of championship leader Piastri and Kimi Antonelli in the second Mercedes.

Seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton was fifth for Ferrari ahead of two-time champion Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin, Norris and Charles Leclerc in the second Ferrari.

Impressive rookie Isack Hadjar was ninth for RB and Alex Albon 10th for Williams.

Mercedes driver George Russell, of the Britain, arrives at the F1 Canadian Grand Prix auto race, Thursday, June 12, 2025, in Montreal. (Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press via AP)

“Today was awesome in front of this amazing crowd,” said a delighted Russell. “To get the pole, to be honest last lap was probably one of the most exhilarating of my life.

“I saw every corner that I was going quicker and to get P1 was a real surprise, but I was so chuffed with it.”

Verstappen said: “I felt quite good all weekend. The car was in the window. This track is quite cool and it feels like a bit of a big go-kart track on the kerbs, with long straights and heavy braking. I’m happy.”

Piastri leads Norris by 10 points in the title race after nine of this year’s 24 races.

The first qualifying session came to a halt when Albon’s engine cover disintegrated and fell in bits onto the circuit, prompting a red flag stoppage for eight minutes.

There were five minutes and 30 seconds remaining when this happened soon after it was confirmed that the luckless Yuki Tsunoda had been given a 10-place grid penalty for passing Piastri under red flags earlier in FP3.

Albon made it back to the pits leaving a trail of debris before the team bolted on a new engine cover while stewards cleared the track for a final flurry topped by Norris and Piastri ahead of Hamilton.

Out in Q1 were Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto, a frustrated Carlos Sainz of Williams, who was impeded by Hadjar, local hope Lance Stroll of Aston Martin, RB’s Liam Lawson and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly.

Russell topped Q2 where Tsunoda, Alpine’s Franco Colapinto, Nico Hulkenberg of Sauber and the Haas pair Oliver Bearman and Esteban Ocon fell by the wayside.

After their opening Q3 runs, it was Verstappen, Piastri, Russell, Antonelli and Norris, who went again to recover a time while Ferrari slipped back to sixth and seventh ahead of the final flying runs.

Starting order for Canadian Grand Prix

Front row: George Russell (GBR/Mercedes), Max Verstappen (NED/Red Bull)

2nd row: Oscar Piastri (AUS/McLaren, Kimi Antonelli (ITA/Mercedes)

3rd row: Lewis Hamilton (GBR/Ferrari), Fernando Alonso (ESP/Aston Martin)

4th row: Lando Norris (GBR/McLaren), Charles Leclerc (MON/Ferrari)

5th row: Isack Hadjar (FRA/RB), Alex Albon (THA/Williams)

6th row: Franco Colapinto (ARG/Alpine), Nico Hülkenberg (GER/Sauber)

7th row: Oliver Bearman (GBR/Haas), Esteban Ocon (FRA/Haas)

8th row: Gabriel Bortoleto (BRA/Sauber), Carlos Sainz (ESP/Williams)

9th row: Lance Stroll (CAN/Aston Martin), Liam Lawson (NZL/RB)

10th row: Pierre Gasly (FRA/Alpine), Yuki Tsunoda (JPN/Red Bull)

— with AFP

Originally published as ‘Shocker’: Humiliating radio message after McLaren disaster