PADDOCK INSIDER: Piastri and Norris ready for battle in Austria as McLaren hopes for no crash repeat

Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri cut relaxed figures when they arrived at the Red Bull Ring on Thursday for the Austrian Grand Prix, a little under two weeks after they collided in Canada.

Norris immediately admitted his mistake after he ran into the back of his McLaren team mate's car as he battled to find a way through in Montreal and said later that he was sorry for "being stupid", while team boss Andrea Stella said two McLarens making contact is "not acceptable".

It's no surprise, then, that when the paddock regrouped in Austria, Piastri and Norris – who currently sit first and second in the Drivers' Championship – were still the big topic of conversation.

Piastri was first to face the media, through his appearance in the official press conference. Naturally, the subject dominated the half an hour session and, as has been the case throughout his time in F1 and indeed junior formulae, Piastri handled every question with his trademark coolness.

The first topic was the post-race debrief, which Piastri joked began "on the way to the stewards room" in Montreal after the collision before adding more seriously: "We spoke about it honestly before we even got back to the team. Lando put his hands up and apologised, so all good and looking forward to racing again."

Norris faced the media via the TV pen later in the day and a separate session with written media.

While it's clear the Briton remains disappointed at the way things went down in Canada, he does appear to have picked himself up and brushed himself off quickly.

"Obviously a little different to normal but it was good," he said of the debrief. "I think the team handled everything very well. Of course it's never the nicest position to be in but I think more for myself rather than anyone else.

"It was more my pain than anyone else but it was all good. Everyone was very much onboard on resetting and making sure we're ready to focus on here and not letting it effect our races and our championship and what we're here to fight for which is a very good thing."

McLaren has been keen to avoid team orders and let their drivers fight it out, but within their permitted so-called papaya-rules.

As a reminder, boss Zak Brown defined those rules as "race him [your team mate] hard, race him clean, don’t touch". That obviously happened in Canada but McLaren have no plan to change things.

"Same as always," said Piastri of McLaren's intention to keep things as they were. "What happened in Canada wasn’t ideal, but we’re still free to race, we are still fighting for a championship each. So, no, keep going racing and make sure that we don't come into contact again."

Norris has become engrained in McLaren since joining the operation in 2017, initially as part of their development programme, and he considers them family. That's why the incident hurt even more because he felt he had let everyone down.

But he dealt with the tough conversations and reaction head-on and has since reflected that it has ultimately made McLaren stronger.

"I think from that point it was, yeah, an unfortunate positive," he said. "Between the trust and the honesty I think that Oscar and I have for one another, it's important that we keep it up, we stay strong as a team because we don't want to have the downfall that we know many other teams have had in the past.

"We want to race each other fair and hard and on the limit and not have a repeat of what happened last time out, and that takes both of us, even though Canada was on me, so, yeah, from a mentality point of view, from a constructive point of view, I think that's why it was positive."

'It can only be one of us'

Piastri leads Norris by 22 points - almost a Grand Prix win. When a team haven't won a drivers' championship for nearly two decades, it's inevitable that there will be questions about when and if the team will choose to favour one over the other at some stage. The Australian, though, gave such talk short-shrift.

"I think, for me, I just want – and we all want – a fair opportunity trying to win both championships, especially in the Drivers' Championship, because ultimately, it can only be one of us," he said.

"I think the situation has to change dramatically to start having those conversations, and they’re a very long way away at the moment.

"So at the moment, all I can ask for is a fair chance to try and win the championship, and that’s what I want as well. No, I’m not willing to enter those talks at all."

After one of their more challenging weekends in Canada, where Mercedes seemed to have the edge on them, both Piastri and Norris, whose McLaren team have brought upgrades to Austria, were optimistic Spielberg's Red Bull Ring should be a happier hunting ground.

"We got taken by surprise a little bit that we weren’t as strong as we hoped in Canada, but hopefully it’s a one-off," said Piastri. "By the time we got to qualifying, I think we were in a better place and in the race, our pace was actually not bad, just we qualified a bit further back.

"I think we kind of understand what went wrong in Canada. So, we'll try and have a better weekend here, but I’m confident we'll be back on top form."

'Every weekend's new'

Norris was in the fight for the win last year before a collision with rival Max Verstappen at Turn 3 ended his race and left the door open for George Russell – winner of the last race in Canada – to sneak through to win.

And the place holds a special place in his heart as it was the scene of his first podium. That's perhaps another reason why he's feeling better than expected ahead of this weekend.

"If there is any track that I kind of would say I would go to, to give myself the best feeling and make myself most comfortable, it's probably here, just from my stats, from my enjoyment of the circuit and, yeah, some of the memories that I've had here as well, so a good one," he said.

"But every weekend's new and there's already a lot of good learnings from last weekend."

And naturally Piastri, who has won five races so far this season and tops the table, is feeling like he's in a good place, too.

"I'm enjoying the position I'm in at the moment," he said. "It's a position I've been in before in my junior career.

"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."

So, it's as you were, then. We've got two drivers, in arguably the best car on the grid, with the bit between their teeth and anxious to snatch the momentum in the championship fight. Bring it on.