McLaren's Tyre Gamble Backfires as Piastri Calls Team 'Idiots' After Canadian GP
Andrea Stella, the McLaren boss, defended a controversial tyre strategy that backfired during the Canadian Grand Prix, despite Oscar Piastri openly admitting it made the team look "like idiots". With light rain impacting conditions before the race, both Piastri and teammate Lando Norris opted for intermediate tyres, joining five other drivers. Norris, starting from third, initially took the lead from the Mercedes drivers but had to pit after just two laps due to overheating issues with his intermediates. Piastri expressed his frustration over the radio, stating that McLaren had "made a mistake" when the race was delayed by two additional formation laps due to a problem with Racing Bulls' Arvid Lindblad. Piastri commented on the challenging conditions: "It was raining and between the anthem and getting in the car, it was pretty wet on the ground." "If it rained a little bit more we would have looked like heroes. It didn't, so we looked like idiots." Stella countered, suggesting that if the rain had continued slightly longer, the drivers on dry tyres would have struggled significantly. He emphasized the need to evaluate decisions based on the circumstances at the time rather than the outcomes. Despite bringing new parts to Canada, including a front wing that was not used, McLaren faced difficulties in the cold conditions. Norris managed to secure points after switching back to dry tyres but suffered a gearbox failure, marking his second retirement of the season. Piastri finished 11th after a collision with Alex Albon of Williams resulted in a 10-second penalty. Stella concluded that neither driver had the pace to contend for a podium, attributing the lack of performance to tyre temperature issues and emphasizing the need for further investigation into their performance moving forward.
Source: Sky Sports - 2026-05-25