At the Canadian GP, we saw a McLaren performing below its usual seasonal pace. The papaya team has consistently fought for pole and victory in 2025, but the general feeling in Montréal was that the MCL39 simply didn’t have the speed to win the race.
So much so that Piastri had to settle for fourth place, which was nearly ruined by Norris’s reckless attack. Not only did he end his own race in the wall, but he almost compromised his teammate’s result as well.
McLaren’s misstep in Montréal: possible reasons
There could be many reasons, but we’ll focus only on those that we believe best explain the performance drop seen between Montréal and Spain. Firstly, the Gilles Villeneuve circuit has very different characteristics compared to the tracks raced on earlier in the season: long straights, slow corners, and heavy braking zones. It’s a stop-and-go, rear-limited circuit with medium-low downforce. This kind of layout can certainly highlight differences in car performance.
Secondly, even though the MCL39 didn’t shine in qualifying as usual, in the race Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris likely had a slight edge over Russell’s Mercedes. Proof of this is that, just before the Safety Car was deployed with only a few laps to go, the top five cars were within six seconds of each other.
McLaren used Canada as a test—both in practice and in the race
What was really missing was a strong qualifying performance, likely due to a completely different program run during the free practice sessions. In Canada, McLaren brought a substantial upgrade package, including a medium-downforce rear wing, and revised front wing and front suspension geometry aimed at adjusting the airflow around the MCL39.
According to the author, this could have been one of the main reasons Oscar Piastri missed out on the podium. On Friday, engineers had the drivers working with aero rakes, flow-viz paint, and repeatedly returning to the garage to swap parts and run comparative tests.
The most unusual aspect, however, happened during qualifying and the race. After testing various options, on Saturday the drivers both opted for the new medium-downforce rear wing (better suited to Montréal and, according to the team, adaptable to other tracks as well), but chose the older front wing—the one used until the Spanish GP.
What stood out was the different decision regarding the front suspension. According to ‘Sky Sport F1’ during the Saturday broadcast, Oscar Piastri went with the newly revised geometry brought to Canada, while Norris stuck with the previous specification used in earlier GPs.
It wasn’t Norris who surprised us, but Oscar Piastri. With the Briton, the team chose the most aerodynamically logical solution, while Oscar ran a completely experimental setup. A choice that might seem odd at first glance, but actually reveals some very interesting factors.
Surely, the team made this decision to collect important data to take back to the factory. Could this be what prevented Oscar Piastri from fighting for pole and the win? Possibly… not so much in terms of raw pace, as Oscar showed solid performance on Sunday. It might have been more about confidence—maybe he didn’t feel comfortable enough to take greater risks on Saturday.
Whatever the reason for McLaren’s misstep, the Woking team is in a part of the season where it can afford to experiment. The team has more than double the points of the second-placed squad, and Oscar Piastri, despite finishing fourth, extended his lead over his closest rival.
After all, just as the saying goes, “money makes money,” it’s easier for a team with an advantage to increase it than for its rivals to close the gap. The environment is more relaxed, and a misstep—especially a calculated one—isn’t as damaging as it might seem from the outside.
Leave a Reply