Piastri Says McLaren Intermediate Tyre Call Made Them Look Like Idiots in Canada

Oscar Piastri has admitted McLaren’s decision to start the Canadian Grand Prix on intermediate tyres backfired badly, leaving the team without a single point from the race.
The Australian said conditions on the way to the grid made the call feel justified at the time, with slick tyres struggling badly for grip in the wet.
Piastri explained that the track felt treacherous before the start, making the decision to opt for intermediates seem entirely reasonable given the circumstances on the ground.
“It was raining, and between the anthem and getting in the car it was pretty wet on the ground, in all honesty,” Piastri said, recounting the moments before the race began.
“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,” he continued. “Unfortunately for us, it stopped raining as the formation lap started, basically.”
Piastri acknowledged the fine margins involved, noting that a little more rainfall would have made McLaren appear inspired rather than misguided in their tyre selection.
“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,” he said.
Lando Norris initially benefited from the strategy, passing both Mercedes drivers at the start to take the lead before his intermediate tyres deteriorated rapidly within two laps.
Norris pitted at the end of lap two, while Piastri came in a lap earlier after losing a position to Lewis Hamilton at the start of the race.
Norris ultimately retired from the race with a technical problem, meaning McLaren left Montreal empty-handed from what had been a promising championship season to that point.
Piastri crossed the line in 11th place, one position outside the points, capping a thoroughly difficult afternoon for the Woking-based constructor at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
The day got worse for Piastri when he collided with Alexander Albon’s Williams, earning a penalty and prompting a public apology to the Thai-British driver and his team.
“I felt like I was going into the corner pretty carefully and locked the front and then that was it,” Piastri said when describing the collision with Albon.
“Obviously not my finest moment and apologies to Alex and Williams because it was unnecessary damage for both of us, especially for them,” he added.
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella pointed to an unusual sequence of events before the start as a significant factor in how the strategy unravelled so quickly for the team.
A problem for Arvid Lindblad on the grid triggered two additional formation laps, which Stella said stripped away whatever remaining advantage the intermediate tyres might have offered McLaren.
“We opted for intermediates five minutes before the start because the track was greasy and it was still raining,” Stella explained after the race concluded in Canada.
“Unfortunately, the rain stopped as soon as the tyres went on, the track dried quickly, and two extra formation laps took away any advantage,” he said.
Norris also confirmed he personally pushed for the intermediate call, stating the team made the decision collectively but accepting his own share of responsibility for the outcome.
“We made the decision as a team,” Norris said. “I also pushed for it, so I kind of take the responsibility for that one.”
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