Norris was battling Stroll for 14th place when he tried to pass the Canadian, first on the outside of Turn 1 and then the inside of Turn 2 immediately after. As Stroll maintained his racing line for Turn 2, Norris’s front-right wheel made contact with his rival’s left-rear, pitching the Racing Point into the tyre barriers and leaving the McLaren with terminal damage. McLaren’s Lando Norris and Racing Point’s Lance Stroll were the sole retirements in Sunday’s Spanish Grand Prix after making contact on Lap 46 and bringing out the Safety Car. Stewards investigated the clash after the race – and decided neither driver was “wholly or predominantly to blame”. After reviewing video evidence and talking to both drivers, stewards deemed Norris had not completed an overtake in Turn 1, because he was not completely alongside Stroll and that he “could have backed out of the attempted overtake into Turn 2”. However, they also noted that Stroll “might have been more aware of the possibility that [Norris] could be on his inside” and hence decided to impose no penalty on either driver for what was effectively a racing incident. “I braked on the inside while he was on the outside and then I had to turn in to make the left hand corner,” said Stroll. “Unfortunately there is not enough space for two cars and there was not much I could do. I felt contact on my rear and I was sent into the gravel.” “I was on the inside and I don’t know if he just didn’t see me as he turned in, but there was contact and it put me out of the race,” was Norris’s simple summation, the Briton having immediately apologised over team radio after the accident for his failure to finish.<doc-sep>Lando Norris and Lance Stroll have avoided any penalties following their Spanish Grand Prix clash which saw both drivers retire from the race. On Lap 44 Norris clipped the rear of Stroll’s Racing Point attempting to overtake the Canadian driver at Turn 2 which sent Stroll spinning off into the barriers while the McLaren driver had to stop trackside due to damage. With both drivers instantly out of the race the FIA stewards confirmed the incident would be reviewed after the race. Following a lengthy investigation, the FIA stewards decided neither Stroll or Norris were wholly to blame which ensured neither driver would receive a penalty for causing the collison. “The Stewards reviewed video evidence and heard from the driver of car 4 (Lando Norris), the driver of car 18 (Lance Stroll) and the team representatives,” an FIA stewards statement read. “Car 4 attempted to pass car 18, on the outside, in turn 1 but did not in the view of the stewards, complete the overtake because the car 4 was not completely alongside car 18. The driver of car 4 believed that he had the right to be allowed “racing room” into turn 2 whereas the driver of car 18 stated that he was on the racing line in turn 1 and had to take turn 2 by remaining on the racing line. He stated he was not aware at that point, of the location of car 4. “The Stewards believe that the driver of car 4 could have backed out of the attempted overtake into turn 2 and also that the driver of car 18 might have been more aware of the possibility that car 4 could be on his inside. “Accordingly, we believe that neither driver was “wholly or predominantly to blame” and therefore in accordance with Article 38.2 a) of the Formula One Sporting Regulations, “no penalty will be imposed”.” Speaking after the race, Norris felt Stroll would have known he was close to him having defended into Turn 1 on both the previous lap and seconds before their clash but says he may not have expected him to continue attacking for position at Turn 2. “It was pretty simple to be honest,” Norris said. “I was on the outside into Turn 1, he knew I was there, he defended into Turn 1. After that, I don’t know if he saw me going into Turn 2 but I was still on the inside then for Turn 2 and he just turned in and didn’t leave me enough space basically. “He cut across the front of my car and he put himself out of the race and me out of the race. So a bit annoyed I didn’t get to finish my fifth grand prix, but at the end of the day we weren’t in the points so it didn’t cost us as much as it could have done in another race or anything. “I didn’t think it was my fault, but I was the guy driving the car so I effectively lost the race for the team. It wasn’t for points, so it wasn’t as annoying as it could have been if we were in the points.” Stroll has naturally defended his case by stating he was taking the corner as he would in normal circumstances but both drivers went for the same part of the track at Turn 2 which resulted in the pair colliding. “I didn’t really see the replay so I’ll have to check it out in detail, but there was not much room there. I had to make the corner, so I turned in,” Stroll said. “There wasn’t much I could do. “I braked on the inside and went deep into the first corner, and then I had to turn in for the next corner and unfortunately there was not enough space for both cars.” Daniel Ricciardo picked up a three-place grid penalty for the Spain race after the FIA Stewards deemed he caused a collision at the previous race in Azerbaijan after he crashed into Daniil Kvyat.<doc-sep>Lando Norris has revealed he has been working with a mind coach to help overcome struggles with self-confidence during his racing career, but feels “much more chilled” after a strong start to life in Formula 1. Norris has scored points in two of his first four F1 starts with McLaren this year, helping lift the team to fourth place in the constructors’ championship. The F1 rookie has already ticked off a number of important achievements in his debut season, such as reaching Q3 and recording points finishes, helping ease some of the early nerves he felt at the start of the year. “If I look back at Australia and then going into Bahrain, how nervous I was going into Australia, and in how some ways scared I was of what was going to happen - I didn’t know what was going to happen, basically,” Norris said on Thursday in Spain. “I didn’t know if I was going to do a good job or a bad job. I didn’t have a lot of confidence in myself. But doing as well as I did in Australia, and obviously not just doing well, but from other people - from the bosses, from the engineers, from whoever - having them say well done and good job obviously brings a lot of confidence.” Norris said that struggles with confidence had occurred in the early part of his previous seasons in Formula 2 and Formula 3, but particularly when he made the step up to F1 earlier this year. “It’s not like I’m nervous of people seeing what I can or can’t do on camera or on TV or anything, or what my engineers think. I think it was more of a personal thing,” Norris said “How you go about testing is just very different to just being in the situation of qualifying, having to go out, having to nail the lap. In testing, you make a mistake, you just say ‘OK we’ll have another go’ instead of it being the only chance you get. “I think a bit of it is not having the most confidence in myself, just in general. It’s just something I kind of struggled with, not in every season, but Formula 1 mainly and in F2, a bit in F3. Just in general, it’s something I suffered with at the beginning of a season. “It’s something I have worked on. I have someone I see to help with those situations, to put myself in a better place. So it’s definitely something I’ve already worked on and will continue to work on. “But at the same time, it’s something that will also just come naturally with having more races and having results like I have done. And obviously as well, people telling me if I’ve done a good or a bad job.” Norris said he felt McLaren was giving him plenty of support in the early part of the season, adding he felt he was benefitting from the extra focus given his rookie status. “I think they’ve gone out of their way this year,” Norris said. “From what I’ve seen, it seems like they’ve put more effort or more work into trying to help me as a driver, or the drivers, to be more prepared, to be in a better situation going into every race. “Having the support from everyone, the bosses, whoever within the team, definitely makes it much easier for me as a driver.”<doc-sep>
Stroll and Norris came together while battling for 14th position on the 45th lap of the Barcelona race, the collision putting both out on the spot and necessitating a safety car. Norris had attempted a move around the outside of Stroll into the Turn 1 right-hander and remained to Stroll's left – which was now the inside line into the left-hander Turn 2 – when the Canadian began to turn in, triggering the collision. Asked by Motorsport.com whether he considered backing out of the move, Norris said: “Well, he [Stroll] knew I was there on the entry to Turn 1. I don't know what he was thinking after that. “I was still on the outside, I had a decent part of my car on the outside for Turn 2. But as soon as he started to turn in to the left, I could tell that he either thought that I completely backed out of it, or I disappeared, or I don't know what. “At a point I knew he was just going to turn in and not give me enough room, I had to try and back out and do what I can but I didn't have enough time.” When asked about the collision by Motorsport.com, Stroll insisted there was not enough space in the corner for the two of them to go through side-by-side. “I didn't really see the replay so I'll have to check it out in detail - but yeah, I mean, there was not much room there,” Stroll said. “I have to make the corner, so I turned in, and yeah, there was not really much I could do. I braked on the inside and went deep into the first corner, and then I had to turn into the next corner and unfortunately just not enough space for both cars.” Norris and Stroll were summoned to the stewards after the race, but after hearing the drivers out, the stewards ruled that "neither driver was wholly or predominantly to blame" and thus took no further action. "Car 4 [Norris] attempted to pass car 18 [Stroll], on the outside, in turn 1 but did not in the view of the stewards, complete the overtake because the car 4 was not completely alongside car 18," the stewards' explanation read. "The driver of car 4 believed that he had the right to be allowed 'racing room' into turn ,2 whereas the driver of car 18 stated that he was on the racing line in turn 1 and had to take turn 2 by remaining on the racing line. He stated he was not aware at that point, of the location of car 4. "The Stewards believe that the driver of car 4 could have backed out of the attempted overtake into turn 2 and also that the driver of car 18 might have been more aware of the possibility that car 4 could be on his inside." Norris could be heard apologising after the incident, but the Briton clarified that his apologies were “definitely not meant” for Stroll. “I'm the one driving the car. If I end up out of the race because of a crash - I'm the one driving, I'm the one making the decisions. “Whether I shouldn't have risked trying to overtake him... I don't know. I'm just sorry because I'm the one driving and I let the team down for just not finishing the race.” Additional reporting by Adam Cooper Car of Lando Norris, McLaren MCL34 being recovered by marshals Photo by: Andy Hone / LAT Images