McLaren’s promising start to the Canadian Grand Prix weekend ended in disappointment, with the team struggling to extract the full potential of their car in the main race, ultimately failing to secure a podium finish due to a combination of issues, including a gearbox problem that forced Lando Norris to retire.
Technical Issues and Strategic Mistakes
The team’s decision to start on intermediates proved costly, and the day only got worse with Oscar Piastri’s collision with Alexander Albon, which was deemed a misjudgement by McLaren’s Andrea Stella, who noted that the stewards’ penalty was deserved.
Stella acknowledged that the team had issues in pretty much all areas of racing, from the sporting side to reliability, and that there’s definitely lots to take away and review from the Canadian Grand Prix.
Tyre Temperature Struggles
In the colder conditions on Sunday, McLaren struggled to get the front tyres up to temperature, which proved to be a major challenge, with the drivers locking tyres and going long in corners, and just not getting the front tyres to work at all, according to Stella.
The MCL40 is more sensitive to those conditions and tyre struggles than its rivals, and Stella believes that Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen would have been out of reach for both McLarens in a straight fight, despite Verstappen struggling with front tyre temperatures during his second stint as well.
Upgrades and Future Prospects
McLaren was unable to get a clear read on its upgrades, the second phase of its Miami package, due to the problems that arose during the race, but Stella believes that the verdict on the other parts is more nuanced, and that the team seemed to be within a few tenths of a second of Mercedes, still remaining the best car, prior to the main race.
Looking ahead, McLaren will need to regroup and reassess their strategy, with Stella noting that a points finish would have been the maximum achievable result, following the early switch to slick tyres, and that the team will need to work on improving their tyre temperature management to be competitive in future races.
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