Mclaren Canadian Gp Strategy Failure Costs Norris, Piastri Points

McLaren's mclaren canadian gp strategy failure left Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri with no points in Montreal after both cars started the Canadian Grand Prix on intermediate tyres. The call was the only one of its kind inside the top 10, and it unraveled quickly once the track dried.

McLaren Montreal gamble

Norris and Piastri were the only drivers in the top 10 to begin the race on intermediates, but both had to pit early for slicks on Sunday. Piastri said over the radio that McLaren had "made a mistake," and later told Sky Sports F1 that the team looked like idiots if the rain returned, but it did not.

He said, "It was raining and between the anthem and getting in the car, it was pretty wet on the ground. You could clearly tell where it was wet and dry." He added, "Getting to the grid on slicks was not easy, getting to full throttle was tough. Unfortunately for us, it stopped raining. If it rained a little bit more we would have looked like heroes. It didn't, so we looked like idiots."

Andrea Stella on inters

Andrea Stella defended the call, saying, "At the time that you had to make a decision as to what tyres to fit, and with not necessarily a clear idea as to when the rain would stop, the track was greasy and the right tyre at that time was the intermediate tyre," He also said, "I think we always have to be a bit careful in judging decisions simply from the outcome. I think you have to judge decisions at the time that they need to be made."

Stella said the rain stopped pretty much after the five-minute signal, and the double extra formation lap added a clear penalty to starting on inters. A Racing Bulls problem for Arvid Lindblad led to those two extra formation laps and delayed the start by around seven minutes, leaving the intermediate gamble exposed as soon as the field got moving.

Montreal pace slips away

The weekend had already shown McLaren enough pace to fight near the front. Norris and Piastri locked out the second row in Sprint Qualifying and Qualifying behind the upgraded Mercedes, and Norris split the two Mercedes in Saturday's Sprint before getting back into the points-paying positions on Sunday after pitting onto dry tyres.

On race day, Norris took the lead from third place before pitting at the end of the second lap as his intermediates began to overheat. Piastri then joined the same strategy trap, and by the end both McLaren drivers were out of the points in a race that began with light rain and cold conditions but dried fast enough to punish the wrong tire call.

McLaren had brought new parts to Canada, but it did not run its new front wing after testing it in Friday's only practice session. That left the team without a visible gain from its weekend upgrades, and Montreal ended with two scoreless cars instead of the points finish the pace in qualifying had suggested.