Lando Norris had no chance of finishing in Montreal anyway. McLaren confirmed that a gearbox problem definitively ended his race.
Read more F1 divided over the 2027 regulations: tensions already threaten a major change
The 2026 Canadian Grand Prix quickly turned into a nightmare for McLaren. By choosing to start Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri on intermediate tires on a track that was ultimately too dry, the British team immediately lost big against Mercedes, Ferrari, and Red Bull.
Although Norris had managed to gradually climb back into the points after his early stop, his race abruptly ended after 38 laps when he stopped his car at the hairpin of the Gilles-Villeneuve circuit.
At the time, few explanations were given regarding this sudden failure. But after the race, Andrea Stella detailed the real reasons for this retirement.
McLaren faced two different problems
The McLaren boss explained that Norris first suffered an overheating issue, forcing the team to improvise an unexpected stop as early as lap 15.
“With Lando, we had two problems, explained Stella. The car started to overheat, so we had to stop relatively early to clean the radiators.”
This stop was therefore not related to strategy or tire wear, but rather to a reliability problem already worrying for McLaren.
Andrea Stella also specified that this intervention was probably barely visible on television, as the situation seemed confusing in the middle of the race.
A gearbox condemned no matter what
But the real fatal blow came a little later with a failure directly affecting the transmission of the MCL40.
Read more The future is not secured for Esteban Ocon at Haas despite denials in Canada
“We then had a gearbox problem completely independent of the overheating,” added the Italian director.
According to Stella, this failure was inevitable and would have caused the Briton’s retirement even without the first problem encountered earlier in the race.
“This gearbox problem would have happened anyway. It just wasn’t Lando’s day. He wouldn’t have finished the race.”
A black day for McLaren
Between the strategic error at the start, reliability issues, and tricky weather conditions, McLaren leaves Canada with a very heavy toll despite high ambitions before the weekend.
Norris nevertheless seemed capable of limiting the damage after his return to the top 10, but the succession of mechanical problems definitively ruined any chance of a significant result.
Andrea Stella nevertheless tried to put this accumulation of bad luck into perspective.
“If there is one day when all problems have to happen at the same time, then it might as well be this one,” concluded the McLaren boss.
After several complicated weekends, the British team will now have to react quickly before the next round of the season, as Mercedes, Ferrari, and Red Bull seem to be gradually regaining the advantage.
Read more Felix Rosenqvist (MSR) edges out David Malukas (Penske) in a thrilling sprint finish