McLaren experienced a debacle at the Formula 1 race in Canada on Sunday. Even before the start, everything went wrong for Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris. Max Verstappen could only laugh about it after crossing the finish line and clearly put himself ahead of the reigning constructors’ world champions.
McLaren paid a high price for its own wrong decision at the Canadian Grand Prix. The team sent both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri to the start with intermediate tires. Of the top 10, the McLaren duo was the only one that didn’t start on dry tires. A major mistake, as it turned out just minutes later.
Norris got off to a good start and passed the two Mercedes on a slightly damp track, but after just one lap the asphalt had dried out so much that the intermediates were clearly at a disadvantage. As a result, Piastri had to change tires after lap one, and Norris came into the pits on lap two – a debacle that destroyed all hopes of a top result early on.
Verstappen laughs at McLaren
“That was a great decision. I just thought to myself: Thank you!” Max Verstappen mocked his two competitors after their strategy mistake, which ended in a zero-point race.
And race winner Kimi Antonelli was also surprised at his opponents’ decision. He did speak of a tricky choice, as it was still drizzling slightly during the start of the race. “You could see it was starting to get a little wetter but we were pretty sure it wasn’t going to last long and we [mit den Slicks] would survive. That’s why we decided on dry tires. And of course I was surprised to see McLaren at the Inters,” said the Italian.
Norris, Piastri and McLaren had “gambled massively,” said the Italian high-flyer: “And if the rain had come, it would have been very good for them, but it didn’t come,” he stated soberly.
