McLaren Loses Out on Podium Finish: Is Canada Their Achilles Heel?

McLaren Loses Out on Podium Finish: Is Canada Their Achilles Heel?

Team GPFans

Sunday 13 July 2025 06:00 Updated: 12:25

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McLaren has long been a dominant force in Canada. Ever since their early successes at the Canadian Grand Prix, the team has consistently showcased strong performances with drivers like Senna and Hamilton, both of whom are known for their impressive races at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. It appears on the surface that the F1 odds are in their favour.

But that all might be about to change. While McLaren has been impressive so far this season – winning nine of the 12 GPs at the time of writing, and the current F1 odds in their favour to take the Championship – they struggled for pace in Montrea in particularl, and were unable to find themselves at the front of the grid as George Russell and Max Verstappen locked out the front row in qualifying – staying there throughout the 70-lap race.

Both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri had their races ended prematurely, as Norris misjudged a gap to go slamming into the back of his teammate, and this led to questions being asked not just about the internal dynamics of the McLaren team, but whether the car itself can cope in Canadian conditions.

Is Canada McLaren’s New Achilles Heel?

Some critics have been saying that the poor performance of McLaren has less to do with their drivers, and more to do with the setting itself.

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As we mentioned before, Canada has long been a winning spot for this team, but it was clear the MCL39 struggled to find sufficient grip on the circuit. Especially with the low-speed corners – which introduce a lot of braking and traction – the drivers were constantly on the brakes or the throttle, and in both conditions, the car was struggling.

This could be a big issue, mainly because the track itself won’t change! The Circuit Gilles Villeneuve has always been like that, but McLaren’s car has historically been able to deal with it. The question is, then, will McLaren upgrade the car to factor in this circuit and risk losing their dominance in all the others? Or will they accept Canada as a one-off weakness and focus their resources elsewhere?

The Way Forward for McLaren

This is the dilemma that McLaren faces heading into the rest of the 2025 season. There’s no doubt that this team has built a package that excels on medium and high-speed circuits, with a strong aerodynamic profile and some impressive straight-line speed. But Montreal exposed a blind spot. Tight, stop-start sections where mechanical grip and traction are king.

And this won’t just be a Canada issue, either. Similar characteristics appear in Singapore and Monaco, where success often depends more on setup and adaptability than outright car pace. What happens if they miss out on another podium finish? And then another? Minor tweaks to the suspension and tyre management might be enough to shore up their pace, but in the grand scheme of things, this seems like a more deep-rooted issue.

Conclusion

With that being said, teams with championship ambitions don’t tend to overlook weak spots for long. With drivers like Norris and Piastri pushing hard, the pressure will be on McLaren’s engineers to find an adequate solution, and it’s more likely than not that they will. This team is still a powerhouse, but even powerhouses can have momentary power cuts. We’re all just going to have to wait and see how fast they can do it, and whether it’s a problem that can be fixed this season, rather than before the next one.

McLaren George Russell