Lando Norris is 22 points behind McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri in the drivers' championship

Norris says he needs to make fewer mistakes

Lando Norris says he needs to stop making as many mistakes to ensure he has the best chance of winning the Formula 1 drivers’ title this year.

The McLaren driver crashed into the back of team-mate and championship leader Oscar Piastri in the last race in Canada.

Briton Norris trails the Australian by 22 points before this weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix.

Norris said: “I can’t afford to make some of the mistakes that I’ve been making. That’s something I know

“I just want to make the least mistakes possible. It’s not that I can afford to make less or more or whatever. I just need to improve on what I’ve been doing.”

Norris’ error in Canada meant he failed to finish the race, while Piastri came fourth.

It was the first time all season at least one McLaren has not finished the race on the podium.

Norris also made a misjudgement in Japan in April, when he drove on to the grass exiting the pits alongside Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, and lost positions with an error racing the Dutchman on the first lap in Miami.

Primarily, though, Norris’s struggles have been in qualifying, where the car is not giving him the feeling he needs to confidently take it to the limit without making mistakes.

Piastri has won five races to Norris’ two, and has four poles to the Briton’s two after 10 races.

Norris said: “I’ve been making more mistakes and I’ve been behind. That’s been clear. It’s very close between us. Oscar’s certainly been a bit more comfortable than I have this season and that’s the way it is.

“The team need to give me a car and give me things to try and unlock that ability but it’s also my job to drive whatever car I get given. It’s been tough and Oscar’s been doing a good job. It’s been exciting to see how close it is.”

Norris will again have at his disposal a tweak to the front suspension aimed at giving him better feel, which he first used in Montreal.

“It’s more something to try and give me a better feeling rather than to unlock any more performance from the car, but hopefully a better feeling can in some way unlock performance,” he said. “Another weekend for us to judge that and for me to get a feeling on it in a more normal track compared to Canada.”

Norris denied that his issues so far are a concern for him.

“There is a very long way in the season, so I’m not worried about anything,” he said. “But of course, I know it’s always never a good thing to lose out on points, no matter what race it is. Obviously, last time out, I was the only one who lost the points. And I’ve paid a price for misjudging things like I did.”

Norris said it had taken him “a little time” to get over the incident in Canada, and the fact that it had happened with a team-mate had been “the most painful part of it”.

But he said he believed the fact that he owned up to his error in Canada immediately had been an important factor that had helped the team bond.

“That’s a good example for us as a team,” he said. “It’s also between the trust and the honesty that Oscar and I have for one another.

“I made it clear from the immediate moment that I misjudged it and I took the fault for it. So yes, of course not the most joyful conversations, but conversations that needed to be had.”

Both Norris and Piastri said they expected McLaren to be back on form in Austria this weekend.

“It’s been one of our better ones in the past,” Norris said. “It’s also been a very good one for Red Bull and for Max. They were on pole by four and a half tenths last year.

“We expect to be good, but maybe struggle a little bit in qualifying, comparing to some of our competitors.”

Both Red Bull and McLaren have upgrades on their car this weekend. Verstappen, who is going for his fifth win in Austria, his team’s own track, is in third place in the championship, 21 points behind Norris.