Was McLaren’s bizarre Canadian GP strategy gamble ever likely to work?

On the face of it, McLaren’s decision to start the Canadian Grand Prix on intermediate tyres was an unfathomable blunder on a par with their missed pit stops in Qatar just seven rounds earlier.

Jump to: Lap chart – Gaps chart – Lap times – Tyre strategies

Oscar Piastri repeatedly lobbied the team to reverse the call before the start. He finished out of the points while Lando Norris also failed to score after retiring.

Judged against the race’s results, given their drivers started on the second row of the grid, it’s easy to view the decision as a disastrous call. But McLaren weren’t the only team to make it and other factors contributed to their failure to score. It may still have ultimately been a mistake, but why did they consider it a gamble worth taking in the first place, and in what scenarios could it have paid off?

On an unusually cold day, with the track damp from earlier rain, many drivers used intermediate tyres for their reconnaissance laps 40 minutes before the start. It was the first time any of them had run the intermediates all weekend and for some the first time they had used wet weather tyres at all on their 2026 cars.

Light drizzle was still falling around the time of the national anthem ceremony, 15 minutes before the start of the race. Still, with the track substantially dry, there was surprise when Pirelli revealed the team’s tyre choices ahead of the start. Among the ‘big four’ teams occupying the top eight places on the grid, three had opted for softs, yet McLaren surprisingly chose to take intermediates for both cars.

McLaren were not alone, but the next-highest intermediate starter was Nico Hulkenberg in 11th, followed by his team mate Gabriel Bortoleto two places behind. Only Williams split their cars: Carlos Sainz Jnr lined up 15th on intermediates while Alexander Albon three places behind him was on softs. The two Cadillacs at the back of the grid were also on intermediates.

Those starting at the back inevitably had more to gain from a gamble. But what made the choice attractive to McLaren?

Given the unusually low temperatures, the treaded intermediate tyres would offer the benefit of warming up more quickly. Drivers ordinarily have to battle to keep their tyre temperatures down in race conditions, but Sunday in Montreal was so chilly this concern did not apply.

The scale of that immediate warm-up advantage could have been significant. However the potential gain was neutralised by an unexpected development: two extra formation laps. A single extra lap is an uncommon event, but two in a row is highly unusual.

This delayed the start of the race by six-and-a-half minutes. What was already a borderline call by McLaren and the other intermediate tyre starters was now even riskier: the passing time had allowed more time for the track to dry out.

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Piastri was eager to abandon the gamble, but doing so would mean making two sacrifices for McLaren. First, they would have to start from the pit lane instead of their second row grid positions.

Second, starting on intermediates meant they did not have to use two different dry-weather tyre compounds during the race. If McLaren got into the lead at the start, then swapped their intermediates for slicks after a few laps, they could have run to the end of the race. Although none of the intermediate starters ultimately used this strategy, had the race run without the Virtual Safety Car periods, they could have done..

This was surely why McLaren did not follow Piastri’s calls to switch to softs before the start. Even those who had far less to lose – such as Valtteri Bottas in 21st place – did not abandon their decision to start on intermediates.

Moreover, race control’s decision to order a second formation lap was clearly a close call: the marshals had almost completed the recovery of Arvid Lindblad’s stuck Racing Bulls when the order was given. Had the race director opted to delay the start instead of using two formation laps, drivers could have changed their tyres on the grid without sacrificing their starting positions.

The fact Norris was able to use his superior grip at the start to take the lead showed the merit in McLaren’s thinking. However it was a borderline call which left them vulnerable in the event of extra formation laps taking place – which was exactly what happened.

Intriguingly, in the cool-down room after the race Max Verstappen remarked that while on the grid he noticed Lewis Hamilton alongside him making a late change in his choice of starting tyre. Did Ferrari come close to making the same call as McLaren – or was it a cunning fake-out designed to keep the opposition guessing?

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2026 Canadian Grand Prix lap chart

The positions of each driver on every lap. Click name to highlight, right-click to reset. Toggle drivers using controls below:

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2026 Canadian Grand Prix race chart

The gaps between each driver on every lap compared to the leader’s average lap time. Very large gaps omitted. Scroll to zoom, drag to pan and right-click to reset. Toggle drivers using controls below:

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2026 Canadian Grand Prix lap times

All the lap times by the drivers (in seconds, very slow laps excluded). Scroll to zoom, drag to pan and toggle drivers using the control below:

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2026 Canadian Grand Prix fastest laps

Each driver’s fastest lap:

2026 Canadian Grand Prix tyre strategies

The tyre strategies for each driver:

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2026 Canadian Grand Prix pit stop times

How long each driver’s pit stops took:

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2026 Canadian Grand Prix

• ‘It doesn’t feel like what motorsport should be’: Podium trio still unhappy with F1’s power units
• Hamilton grateful Ferrari “moved mountains” for him after scoring his best result for team
• Unseen pit exit crash during VSC was “scary moment” – Colapinto
• Was McLaren’s bizarre Canadian GP strategy gamble ever likely to work?
• ‘We looked like idiots’ after intermediate tyre gamble, admits Piastri

Browse all 2026 Canadian Grand Prix articles