“This is actually an opportunity”: How McLaren answered drivers’ calls to abandon tyre gamble

McLaren was just one of four teams which opted to start at least one of its cars on a set of intermediate tyres despite the increasingly dry track at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on Sunday.

But as Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri occupied the second row of the grid, they had a lot more to lose than those behind who made the same gamble, none of which started inside the top 10 places.

Piastri abandoned his intermediate tyres after a single lap. Norris used his to grab the lead at the start but only went one lap further than his team mate before pitting.

Both expressed reservations about the strategy as the start of the race was held up twice by extra formation laps. But as the team explained, by that point they could not switch tyres without being forced to give up their strong starting positions and start in the pit lane, which was an unattractive option.

Pre-race

“Let’s just be ready for anything,” said Norris after his team told him the other drivers on intermediate tyres were Carlos Sainz Jnr plus the Audi and Cadillac drivers.

“If the decision is good or not, just be ready for pit stops and everything. Give good call-outs please on risky areas, things like that, things that might make people make mistakes.”

Light drizzle was still falling on the start area at this time. Norris’s race engineer Will Joseph told him: “Expect this rain to ease off in the next five to ten minutes.”

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While drivers starting on slicks had to do everything they could to increase their tyre temperature, Piastri was unsure how hard to punish his intermediates, as they would not last long on the cold but nearly dry track.

“On tyre warm-up, what do you want me to do?” he asked race engineer Tom Stallard. “If there’s wheelspin, do we care about that?”

“I would just prioritise trying to get temperature [up],” Stallard replied. “Straight-line speed is the best thing. Try to minimise sliding, but weaving, straight-line speed, put load into the tyres.”

Formation lap one

After the drivers left the pits to begin what was supposed to be the only formation lap they gave a mixed verdict on the suitability of their tyres.

“It looks pretty dry but I feel like I have more grip,” said Piastri. “It feels like I’m floating around quite a bit on these tyres already.”

“It’s the same as before,” reported Norris. “I don’t know. We’ll see.”

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Formation lap two

McLaren’s plan hit a significant snag when Arvid Lindblad’s Racing Bulls became stuck on the grid. This required an extra formation lap, giving more time for the track to dry out.

“How’s the weather looking?” Norris asked hopefully. “Still happy with what we’ve got?”

The team told him there was no sign of change in the weather forecast. Piastri reckoned: “I think it is time for slicks, so should we just box?”

In Stallard’s assessment, that meant trading a possible gain – albeit an increasingly remote one – for a certain loss. Pitting to change to slicks would mean starting the race from the pit lane after the field had left the grid.

“Oscar, I think if you box we’ll be last,” he said. “I think this tyre may be good for a couple of laps. There may be a Safety Car.

“I think there’s more to gain by trying the race start like this. Everyone’s going to really struggle with temperatures and you will have an advantage.”

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Formation lap three

That slim hope faded further as the marshals were unable to clear Lindblad’s car before the field returned, which meant a third formation lap was needed. The race would now start over six minutes later than planned – a significant difference as the track continued to dry.

“So Oscar, our tyres have dropped quite a lot, everyone on soft must have very cold tyres by this time,” advised Stallard.

“Yeah but if we pit now we will have warm tyres,” replied Piastri. “So, I don’t know. I mean, these inters are a mistake now.”

Stallard maintained they had to stick with the plan. “Oscar, we think best to take the start, go to the grid and we are in the window for a Safety Car. Expect others to struggle with cold tyres.”

Norris expressed similar concerns: “If I’m on the wrong tyre, what do you want to do?” But McLaren remained hopeful the decision would still pay off: “Right now we’re in a good position. We’ve got tyre temperatures. Other people are complaining more. So this is actually an opportunity for us.”

“Yeah, but I don’t think it’s going to last long,” replied Norris. “My rears are just drifting.” As he lined up on the grid for the third attempt to start the race he asked: “If it’s really shit, lap one, what are we doing?” But by then the race was finally about to begin.

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The start

McLaren’s hope the intermediate tyres would give their drivers better initial grip than those on slicks was partially realised. Norris launched past the Mercedes pair into the lead. The other car however, dropped back one place.

Piastri immediately headed for the pits but Norris completed the first lap in the lead. The next time around as Norris accelerated towards the pit lane entrance Andrea Kimi Antonelli was already making a move on him for the lead.

The early pit stops for the McLaren pair left them mired in the midfield, where their races quickly unravelled. Norris went off, had to pit due to overheating and later retired with a gearbox problem. Piastri tangled with Alexander Albon, incurred damage and collected a penalty, and finished outside the points.

The gamble clearly did not pay off. But the quality of Norris’s start when the race finally began must have left McLaren wondering how much better it would have worked for them had the race begun at its original intended time.

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