Heading into Montreal, many expected McLaren to operate on a completely different competitive level compared to what ultimately unfolded on track. Aside from the Sprint race, the Woking-based team never truly challenged Mercedes’ pace, and even with one of the Silver Arrows eliminated from contention, a podium finish still failed to materialise.
One of the defining moments of McLaren’s difficult Canadian Grand Prix came in the opening stages, when the team’s decision to start on intermediate tyres backfired dramatically, forcing an early pit stop and effectively ending any realistic hopes of fighting at the front.
Andrea Stella defends McLaren’s opening tyre gamble
On the Montreal grid, only McLaren, Audi, Cadillac and Carlos Sainz opted to start on intermediate tyres. It was a decision driven by damp conditions, though not conditions that ultimately proved wet enough to sustain a meaningful stint on that compound.
After just two laps, McLaren’s drivers were forced back into the pits, compromising the race almost immediately.
“The decision was relatively shared between the team personnel and the drivers,” Andrea Stella explained after the race. “I even contributed myself, because when the moment came to make the decision, I simply wanted to make sure we had tyres capable of surviving the opening lap.”
It was a conservative approach—but one that ultimately proved costly.
“You have to consider that the tyres are fitted five minutes before the start, which became around seven minutes when we had to make the operational decision,” Stella added while explaining the reasoning behind the call. “In our view, the track was damp, and even in dry conditions there had been difficulties keeping tyre temperatures up. At that moment, it was wet and raining, so we believed we had to choose the appropriate tyres. Then the rain stopped very quickly.”
The situation became even more complicated because of the three formation laps caused by Arvid Lindblad’s Racing Bulls car being stranded on the grid.
“At the original scheduled start time, the right tyres were the intermediates,” the McLaren team principal continued. “I would genuinely have liked to see the race start at the original time, because I don’t know exactly how much time passed, but in that period the pit lane asphalt changed from dark grey to something much closer to dry conditions.”
Stella also urged caution when judging strategy calls purely by the final outcome: “I think you always need to be careful about evaluating decisions simply based on the result. A decision should be judged according to the circumstances at the moment it was made.”
For the Italian engineer, it was ultimately a case of unfortunate timing: “The fact that the rain stopped after the five-minute signal and that we had three formation laps clearly hurt anyone starting on intermediates. If it had continued raining for a few more minutes and the race had started normally, we would have seen cars struggling badly on slick tyres.”
Monaco next: “Ferrari are favourites, but McLaren should be competitive”
With the disappointment of Canada now behind them, McLaren’s attention shifts to Monaco, where Lando Norris claimed victory twelve months ago.
According to Andrea Stella, Ferrari could be the team to beat around the streets of the Principality.
“Looking at the GPS data, it is clear Ferrari are extremely competitive in the corners. We already saw that here in Montreal through the first sector,” Stella said, echoing comments made by Lando Norris, who had suggested Ferrari may hold the advantage heading into Monaco – “It is also essential to ride the kerbs effectively. Ferrari lose most of their time on the straights—but Monaco does not have many of those. That is why Lando is right to consider Ferrari the favourite for pole position in Monaco.”
Still, McLaren are not approaching the weekend with pessimism.
“At its current stage of development, the McLaren performs better in slow-speed corners than in medium- and high-speed sections. Ferrari and Mercedes have an advantage in those faster areas. That should put us in a good position for Monaco, although Monaco still has sections where speed matters, like Casino at 150 km/h, Tabac at 180 km/h, and over 200 km/h near the Swimming Pool complex.”
“So medium-to-high-speed performance is still important. I see Ferrari as the favourites, but McLaren should also be competitive.”
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