McLaren Struggles on Opening Day at Canadian Grand Prix
Montreal, Canada – McLaren’s drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri faced challenges during the opening practice sessions of the Formula 1 Canadian Grand Prix, with both athletes expressing frustration over their performance.
In Friday’s sessions, Norris recorded times of 7th in FP1 and 2nd in FP2, while Piastri struggled, finishing 14th in FP1 and 6th in FP2. Despite Norris’s strong FP2 showing, he described the day as "the worst Friday" of the season, noting difficulties in achieving consistent lap times. "A little bit off the pace… it’s just difficult to ever put a lap together," Norris stated. He emphasized, “We have some work to do.”
McLaren rolled out updates, including a revised front wing designed to enhance aerodynamic performance. The new geometry features redesigned main elements and the introduction of ‘mermaid tails’ to the front wing endplate. However, despite the updates, Norris suggested they may reconsider their setup moving forward in the event, indicating that more fine-tuning is required to optimize car performance.
Piastri acknowledged the day’s progression, commenting, "It definitely ended better than it started," but confirmed there is still room for improvement. He reiterated that while the upgrades performed as expected, achieving a better car balance remains a priority.
Teams such as Mercedes and Red Bull displayed competitive pace, with the latter’s performance split being minimal ahead of Saturday’s final practice and qualifying sessions. Norris acknowledged the competitive landscape, noting, "Mercedes now seem very, very quick… we expect them to be fast.”
As the teams head towards qualifying, Norris and Piastri remain hopeful of finding a more manageable balance in their car, aiming to close the gap to the front-runners.
