Piastri Admits Intermediate Tyre Gamble Backfired: We Looked Like Idiots

Oscar Piastri admitted McLaren’s tactical gamble at the start of the Canadian Grand Prix backfired after the team failed to score points.

The McLaren drivers were two of seven who began the race on intermediate tyres. Although the track was largely dry, conditions were cold: Audi and Cadillac also put both their cars on intermediates and Carlos Sainz Jnr did the same in his Williams.

The decision initially looked promising for Lando Norris, who used the intermediate tyres to pass the Mercedes drivers off the line and take the lead. He could not build a gap, however, and his tyres degraded quickly, forcing him into the pits at the end of lap two. Piastri, who lost places to Lewis Hamilton at the start, pitted at the end of lap one.

While Norris later retired with a technical issue, Piastri finished just outside the points in 11th. He explained the team chose intermediates because the slicks felt unstable on the run to the grid.

“It was raining, and between the anthem and getting in the car it was pretty wet on the ground, in all honesty. 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 said.

“Unfortunately for us, it stopped raining as the formation lap started. It’s one of those moments where if it had rained a bit more we would have looked like heroes, but it didn’t, so we looked like idiots.”

Piastri then suffered a further setback when he made contact with Alexander Albon and received a penalty. He apologised to the Williams driver for the collision.

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“It was just so difficult out there,” Piastri said. “I felt like I was going into the corner pretty carefully and locked the front and then that was it. So obviously not my finest moment and apologies to Alex and Williams because it was unnecessary damage for both of us, especially for them.”

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella said the delayed start, caused by Arvid Lindblad’s problem on the grid and the resulting two extra formation laps, worked against the decision to run intermediates.

“We opted for intermediates five minutes before the start because the track was greasy and it was still raining,” Stella said. “Unfortunately, the rain stopped as soon as the tyres went on, the track dried quickly, and two extra formation laps took away any advantage.”

Norris admitted he pushed for the gamble. “We made the decision as a team,” he said. “I also pushed for it, so I kind of take the responsibility for that one.”

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