McLaren ‘on the back foot’ at F1 Canadian GP but ‘no alarm bells’ ringing
Are McLaren on the backfoot at the F1 Canadian Grand Prix?
McLaren are starting the F1 Canadian Grand Prix “on the back foot” after a tricky Friday practice, it has been claimed.
That is the view of Sky Sports F1’s Karun Chandhok, who suggested the reigning world champions will not be overly pleased with how Friday’s action unfolded at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
McLaren pair Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris spent much of Friday off the pace but the latter did end second practice just 0.028s behind Mercedes’ George Russell, who headed the timesheets.
Piastri, who holds a 10-point lead over Norris in the championship, was sixth-fastest.
"You have to say, McLaren do seem to be on the back foot today, particularly with one-lap pace,” Chandhok noted during Sky Sports F1’s coverage of FP2.
"This is a difficult track to overtake on, so actually qualifying is super important."
Piastri acknowledged McLaren have time to find heading into qualifying but was encouraged by the improvements his team were able to make between Friday’s practice sessions.
“It definitely ended better than it started but I think still some improvements to try and make,” Piastri summarised.
“It’s been a little bit of a tricky day just trying to find the window of the car. I think we are getting there, but we still need to find a bit more.
“The competition looks close. Also, just knowing what tyres to use is an interesting discussion as well. I’m sure we’ll see how we can find a bit more.”
New parts working as expected
McLaren have debuted a new front wing in Montreal and Piastri insists the update is working as the team hoped.
“The new parts have done what we expected them to but hopefully we can find a bit more,” he stressed.
“I think we made a good step from FP1 to FP2 and just need to try and make the same step again I guess.
“No alarm bells, just trying to get the car in a better window and get me in a better window.”
Norris said: "A tricky day. Probably one of the trickiest we’ve had this year. A little bit off the pace compared to some of the others.
"Difficult to put a lap together and be consistent. I did one good lap the whole session, so we have some work to do.”
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