McLaren Fails in Montreal: Opportunity for Rivals in F1 2025?

Canadian Grand Prix Analysis: McLaren Stumbles, Mercedes Capitalizes

The 2025 Canadian Grand Prix, despite the incident between Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, represented a weekend to forget for McLaren, the championship leader. The absence of a McLaren driver on the podium and the lack of a car on the front row of the grid were unusual signs for the team.

Although unexpected results are common in dominant campaigns, this weekend revealed areas for improvement for McLaren. The race was not a total disaster, but it highlighted potential challenges for the rest of the season. McLaren anticipated that the design of the Montreal circuit, with its long straights and chicanes, would not favor the strengths of their car.

The clash between the McLaren drivers diverted media attention, so it is necessary to go back 24 hours to understand the team’s explanation of their performance. The team acknowledged the difficulties in generating grip on the track, which affected their performance.

“The car wasn’t able to generate much grip… even in low-speed corners, there’s a lot of braking and traction. There isn’t much phase in the middle of the corner itself. Either you’re braking or you’re accelerating, and in both conditions, we have to say that the car struggled a bit at the beginning.”

Andrea Stella, McLaren Team Principal

Unlike the Barcelona-Catalunya circuit, where McLaren achieved a victory, the characteristics of Montreal put the team to the test. Tire management, a strong point for McLaren, was also less relevant in Canada due to the smooth track surface. Instead of dealing with overheating, the drivers focused on avoiding “graining”, a phenomenon where the tire surface wears out prematurely. This problem was evident on Piastri’s front left tire.

Lando Norris retired from the Canadian Grand Prix on Sunday, four laps from the end, after colliding with his teammate Oscar Piastri. McLaren’s situation allowed Mercedes to stand out, taking advantage of the circuit’s characteristics. George Russell took the victory and Kimi Antonelli achieved his first podium. Mercedes has faced challenges in balancing the car in low and high-speed corners. Montreal, with its predominance of low-speed corners, simplified the equation. The absence of high-speed corners also facilitated the control of tire temperature. Mercedes introduced a new rear suspension in Montreal, designed to improve tire performance. While the improvement was noticeable, a more demanding test will be needed to confirm its long-term impact.

“Montreal was always good for us, it lacks the typical high-speed corners where we suffer more with the heat. That’s one, and number two is that here there is a fairly smooth asphalt, which is less abrasive and, therefore, less detrimental to our car, which suffers from degradation and overheating of the rear tires.”

Toto Wolff, Mercedes Team Principal

The result in Canada could be just a setback for McLaren, but it demonstrates the possibility of surprises in the rest of the 2025 season.