After securing a double podium in both the Sprint and the main race in Miami, McLaren continued its positive momentum in Canada. Lando Norris claimed second place in the Sprint race in Montreal after overtaking Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who had been involved in the internal Mercedes battle with George Russell. The British team also appeared to benefit from the upgrade package introduced in Montreal, building on developments first seen in the United States, and managed to extract improved performance from the package.
The results were visible, even if Mercedes still appears to be the benchmark heading into race day. The reigning world champion remained in the fight for pole position until the very final moments, eventually settling for the third-fastest time. Oscar Piastri will also start from the second row alongside his teammate, giving McLaren a strong platform despite still trailing Mercedes on outright pace. Both drivers expressed satisfaction with the progress made, while acknowledging that more performance is still needed to truly challenge at the front. Piastri also offered some early thoughts on what could become a wet and unpredictable Grand Prix.
PIASTRI: “WE GOT CLOSER TO MERCEDES, BUT NOT ENOUGH”
Once again, McLaren will lock out the second row, with Oscar Piastri starting alongside teammate Lando Norris from fourth place. The Australian was satisfied with the session overall, even while admitting Mercedes still had the upper hand.
“I think there were some small difficulties in certain areas, but overall I’m reasonably happy. We got closer to Mercedes, but not enough. We did our best. I think we can definitely apply a bit more pressure, but they still have a pace advantage over us.”
The upgrade package appears to have helped the drivers, even though the new front wing was temporarily set aside for the Montreal weekend.
“It was reasonable. I think we did a better job of finding a stronger balance, definitely compared to the Sprint, which was a positive. But we were still missing that final little touch, so we need to find something else.”
Only two tenths separated the top four drivers in Canadian Grand Prix qualifying. However, Oscar Piastri does not believe George Russell extracted the absolute maximum from his Mercedes, suggesting the reduced gap may not tell the full story. At the same time, the Australian felt he came close to maximizing his own McLaren performance.
“I think I got pretty close. This is one of those circuits where you always feel like there’s another tenth or two available, but usually if you try to find it, it ends with one or two wheels coming off the track. So I think there was still some room for improvement. I struggled a bit between Turns 3 and 4 for almost the entire session. But apart from that, things went reasonably well. Looking at Russell’s lap, that wasn’t perfect either. So I think Mercedes still has a bit of an advantage over everyone else.”
One of the recurring challenges across the grid during qualifying was getting the tyres into the correct operating window.
“It was pretty tough,” Piastri admitted. “I think everyone was doing warm-up laps, which is obviously a bit unusual, but I think Russell even did two laps on the same set, so it was difficult. After doing one warm-up lap, things became a little easier, but it still wasn’t straightforward to get the maximum from the tyres.”
Asked about the possibility of rain during the race, Oscar Piastri added:
“We’ll see. We haven’t really driven these cars properly in wet conditions yet, so it will be an experience one way or another. Obviously, some drivers have done testing, but personally I’ve never driven this car in the rain. So it’ll be tough, and this circuit in wet conditions is always tricky, as we know from the wet race a few years ago. These power units don’t really enjoy inconsistency, and it’s practically impossible to be consistent in the wet, so there will definitely be some challenges.”
When asked whether tyres or the power unit would be the bigger concern, he replied:
“Everything. Regarding the tyres, I don’t know, because I haven’t heard anything exceptional, and the power units are already quite delicate in dry and stable conditions, so in the rain both will be a major issue.”
NORRIS: “WE DID A GOOD JOB. MERCEDES IS STILL FASTER”
In qualifying for Sunday’s main race, Lando Norris secured the third-fastest time behind George Russell and Andrea Kimi Antonelli, effectively repeating his strong Sprint Qualifying result. The British driver was firmly in the fight for pole, but in the closing moments both Mercedes drivers improved their lap times, pushing him back to third place.
After the session, the reigning world champion explained that McLaren had delivered a strong overall performance, even if Mercedes still held the pace advantage.
“It’s always impossible to know whether there was something left on the table. Honestly, I think we did a good job today. I’m sure everyone here can say it’s a difficult lap, it’s a difficult track to put everything together perfectly, but I think we did another good job. It’s clear the two Mercedes drivers are a bit quicker, but it’s nice to be closer than yesterday. I enjoyed it, obviously the weather will be different in the race, so we’ll see. But we’re in a good position, and we’re where we need to be.”
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