Oscar Piastri admitted McLaren’s tactical gamble at the start of the Canadian Grand Prix backfired badly after the team failed to score.
The McLaren drivers were two among seven who started the race on intermediate tyres. Although the track was largely dry, it was very cold: Audi and Cadillac also selected intermediates for both their cars and Carlos Sainz Jnr did the same in his Williams.
The gamble appeared to pay off initially for Norris as he passed the Mercedes drivers at the start and took the lead. However he was unable to pull away from his pursuers and as his tyres went off quickly he headed for the pits at the end of lap two. Piastri, who fell behind Lewis Hamilton at the start, changed his tyres at the end of lap one.
While Norris later retired with a technical problem, Piastri took the chequered flag one place outside the points in 11th. He said the team chose to start on intermediates because the slick tyres felt treacherous when driving to the grid before the start.
“It was raining, and between the anthem [performance] and getting in the car it was pretty wet on the ground, in all honesty. There was definitely no standing water but you could clearly tell where it was wet and where it was dry. Getting to the grid was not easy on slicks: getting to full throttle was pretty tough.
“Unfortunately for us, it stopped raining as the formation lap started, basically. It’s just one of those things where if it rained a little bit more, we would’ve looked like heroes, but it didn’t, so we looked like idiots.”
Piastri suffered a further setback when he collided with Alexander Albon, incurring a penalty. He apologised to the Williams driver for the incident.
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“It was just so difficult out there,” he said. “I felt like I was going into the corner pretty carefully and locked the front and then that was it.
“So obviously not my finest moment and apologies to Alex and Williams because it was unnecessary damage for both of us, especially for them.”
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella said the delay to the start due to Arvid Lindblad’s problem on the grid, which unusually led to two extra formation laps taking place, played against McLaren’s decision to start on intermediates.
“We opted for intermediates five minutes before the start because the track was greasy and it was still raining,” he explained. “Unfortunately, the rain stopped as soon as the tyres went on, the track dried quickly, and two extra formation laps took away any advantage.”
Norris said he was particularly keen to gamble on the intermediates. “We made the decision as a team,” he said. “I also pushed for it, so I kind of take the responsibility for that one.”
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2026 Canadian Grand Prix
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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 – when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring journalist, Keith began running the site full-time in 2010, achieving a long-held ambition to dedicate his full attention to his passion for motor racing. View all posts by Keith Collantine