Lando Norris defends failed McLaren strategy gamble as ‘valid reasons’ explained
Lando Norris had a flying start in Canada, but was ultimately on the wrong tyres.
Lando Norris didn’t feel McLaren’s choice to start the Canadian Grand Prix on intermediate tyres was inherently “stupid”, given his jump into the lead, but that just a bit more rain would have played into his hands.
Both Norris and teammate Oscar Piastri were among the seven drivers to start on the partial-wet tyre, with light drizzle in the air ahead of the start of the race, but were quickly made to pay for that decision by having to switch back to slick tyres within a couple of laps.
Lando Norris: ‘1% more rain’ could have tipped Canadian GP tyre balance
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With more temperature in his tyres, Norris flew into the lead off the line to jump both Kimi Antonelli and George Russell, building up a two-second advantage by the end of the first lap, which was quickly being eroded as the slick runners got up to temperature.
A pit stop soon followed, and while Norris had been making headway back into the points after dropping to the back of the field, a reliability issue ended his day early at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
Piastri, who received a hefty penalty for a mid-race crash collision into Alex Albon, admitted after the race that he and the team “looked like idiots” in hindsight for that strategy call, but that he was one of the people to decide on intermediates being used in the process.
Looking back, Norris did not share the same view, though admitted it was not long before he realised dry tyres were the way forward.
A host of variables which could have helped his afternoon did not come to pass, either.
“Probably just on the warm-up lap,” the reigning world champion replied when asked when he knew he was on the wrong tyres.
“The rain already stopped a little bit by then, so it was the wrong decision in hindsight. Obviously, it was good for a lap, and kept me out of trouble, and so, so easily, things could have happened behind, and I would have looked much better, but it was the wrong decision in the end.
“I don’t think [it was] through any bad decision-making. I think people saw there were valid reasons for doing what we did.
“I’m happy we kind of went for something and stuck to it. It doesn’t work out sometimes, that’s the way it is. So we take it on the chin and we learn from it.
“It shows how slippery it was for them in the beginning, and I had a two-second gap after one lap, so it wasn’t like it was stupid to be on that tyre, it was just it was just drying out.
“Of course, when they got a bit of temperature into the tyres, it worked out for them, so like 1% more rain or a few little bits of drizzle here or there, and it really would have suited us a lot more, so that happens sometimes.
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“Nothing really went our way today. I don’t think our pace was going to be exceptional either way, with the temperatures we had.
“We thought there’d still be a very high chance of a Safety Car, and things like that. So, even with staying out on track, Safety Car loss is 10 seconds. I was leading by two, and if a Safety Car came out, not everyone would be on their delta.
“I still could have come out on a new slick, probably inside the top 10. I probably would have been better than that, even. So, there weree a lot of positives, like things that could have come from it, just none of those things kind of came.
“It was a shame, apart from the very first lap, and a good start, and a good Lap 1. Then we’re just unlucky today.”
McLaren will celebrate its 1000th grand prix weekend in Formula 1 at the next round in Monaco, as the second-oldest team on the grid.
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