‘Damage limitation’ for McLaren after qualifying woe

Montreal: Championship leaders McLaren admitted that they are in damage limitation mode ahead of Sunday´s Canadian Grand Prix after being outpaced by Mercedes´ George Russell and Red Bull´s Max Verstappen in qualifying.

Oscar Piastri, who leads the drivers´ title race by 10 points ahead of team-mate Lando Norris, improved his form to qualify Saturday after a dismal Friday, but Norris slipped to seventh. “To be honest, after how practice went, I´m pretty happy with myself at the moment, it was a nice turnaround,” admitted Piastri. “Third is ok and I will definitely take it here.

“It was always a question for us and a difficult one to choose a medium or a soft tyre for final qualifying Q3. “We went with the soft because we were having a lot of problems and we just wanted to keep things consistent and play it safe.”

Team boss Andrea Stella admitted: “We are in damage limitation mode,” a comment that suggested he and McLaren will be satisfied to claim a podium finish.

Norris admitted he had too many mistakes. “It´s not ideal, just too many mistakes, I hit the wall in the last lap,” he said. “I´ve got confidence and the car felt good, but I just made too many mistakes.” He added that the new front wing and suspension had made no discernible difference for his performance.