McLaren had a disastrous Sunday at the Canadian Grand Prix of Formula 1, which ended with Lando Norris retiring due to gearbox problems. The Briton parked his MCL40 on lap 40, ending a race also marked by strategy errors.
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The team started with the Briton and Oscar Piastri in third and fourth on the grid, but the bet on intermediate tires for the start of the race proved wrong. The choice quickly compromised the competitors’ race in Montreal, forcing a switch to slicks in the early laps.
After the initial stop, the current Formula 1 champion was instructed to extend the stint with the new medium compounds. However, on lap 17, he had to return to the pits because the car’s radiators were overheating. According to the team, pieces of grass got stuck in the system and needed to be removed.
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Even after the initial problems, Norris was in eighth position until retiring at the hairpin of the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. McLaren confirmed that the cause was a failure in the gearbox of the British driver’s car.
Team principal Andrea Stella summed up the complicated scenario faced by Norris during the race. “Today definitely was not Lando’s day. He wouldn’t have finished the race anyway. So, if there is a day for all the problems to happen at the same time, it was this one,” he said.
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