McLaren’s F1 Canadian GP ended up in no points after both Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris faced different issues which hampered their running.
McLaren’s fate in the F1 Canadian GP at Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve was sealed very early after both drivers endured troubles with Norris retiring after his car’s right rear suspension melted due to fire in his brake ducts in a freak case.
His teammate Sainz was forced to pit early after a tear-off got stuck in his brake duct and caused overheating. He switched on to the hard compound on Lap 3 itself and completed the race on the same set. He looked to be inside the Top 10 until the final lap.
He was overtaken by both Racing Point’s Lance Stroll and Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat to be demoted to 11th and out of points. Earlier in the season, Kimi Raikkonen faced a similar issue like Sainz as the team investigates the cause for Norris’ fire.
“Disappointing end to the weekend,” said Sainz. “I was forced to pit very early on lap three because of a tear-off stuck in a brake duct. We had to pit immediately to remove it, since it caused excessive overheating, and to go onto the hard tyres.
“We had good pace at times but 67 laps were just too many for the tyres, and not even the extra tyre management was enough to maintain the fight for points. We weren’t able to show our true pace, which I think was a solid points finish.”
Norris, on the other hand, has no clue of the issue as he said he did not hit any walls. “I had a problem with overheating at the back of the car which led to my retirement – I have no clue what happened. I didn’t hit a wall or anything so I’ve no idea.
“It’s annoying because until then it had been a fun race, battling with Max in the opening laps. There was good potential to maybe get some points today so it’s especially frustrating. But these things happen.”
The team is certainly looking into Norris’ freak issue. “After having some good Sundays at recent races, there were several incidents which meant we weren’t able to score the points we hoped would be on the table with the pace we had in our cars,” said Andreas Seidl.
“Unfortunately we lost Lando’s car quite early in the race due to an mechanical issue at the rear of the car, which we still need to investigate in full once the car is back in the garage. For Carlos, we had to pit on lap three as one brake corner was overheating.
“Frustratingly, we found some parts of a tear-off visor inside one of the brake ducts, which we tried to remove as best we could. At the same time we had to put him on the hard tyres, and try to manage the pace over the remaining distance of the race.
“Carlos did a great job managing the tyres for 67 laps but unfortunately ran out of tyres in the last five laps and there was no way for him to hold the two cars behind.” Fortunately, the team did not lose its fifth place but Renault closed in to just two points now.
Here’s how the F1 Canadian GP panned out
Motor racing community reacts to Sebastian Vettel penalty
Kevin Magnussen had to clarify his radio comments after the race
Sebastian Vettel talks about everything what happened in Canada
Lance Stroll talks about memorable home GP on old Mercedes PU
Valtteri Bottas feels qualifying error sealed his fate for a P4 result
Ross Brawn wants to be transparent over stewards decisions for fans