McLaren left to look like 'idiots' after tyre selection gamble went wrong

[p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/norris-lando/WSVABbVF/"]Norris[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/piastri-oscar/MqKAIeUf/"]Piastri[/a] started third and fourth on the grid but the team ‌chose intermediate tyres for both cars while most of the field ‌went with slicks in cold and slippery conditions.[/p][p]The decision briefly looked promising when Norris stormed into the lead but the rain had stopped before the start and both ‌cars were forced into early pitstops as the ⁠track dried out.[/p][p][b]"Unfortunately for us, it ‌stopped raining as the formation lap started, basically,"[/b] Piastri told Sky TV.[/p][p]"So, yeah, ​just one of those things where had it rained a little bit more, we would have looked like heroes. But it ​didn't, so we looked like idiots."[/p][embed guid="f6ce470c-1060-4866-8909-63bd51016340" url="https://x.com/McLarenF1/status/2058707871811178643" social-type="twitter" /][p]Team principal Andrea Stella said the call should be judged based on the information available at the time, ⁠rather than just on the ​outcome.[/p][p][b]"The rain stopping pretty much after the five-minute signal, and then the double formation lap handed a clear penalty to starting on inters," [/b]he told reporters.[/p][p]"With the rain lasting for a few more minutes, and the race ‌start happening at the right time, we could have seen a big cut starting on the right tyres."[/p][p]McLaren's problems continued after the tyre gamble failed. Piastri, trying to recover, locked up and collided with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/albon-alexander/OEbwYC7k/"]Albon[/a] on lap 15, putting the Williams driver out of the race.[/p][p][b]"I wasn't trying to overtake him. I just locked up, and that was it,"[/b] said the apologetic Australian, who was handed a 10-second penalty and finished 11th.[/p][p]Stella said the penalty was deserved and described the incident as ‌a misjudgement.[/p][p]Norris, Stella said, had made an earlier stop because of overheating ​and the need to clean the radiators but said it was ‌a seperate issue to gearbox problem that forced him out of the race.[/p][p]McLaren, the reigning constructors' champions, finished without a point on a day when championship leader [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/antonelli-andrea-kimi/ptGu0mT1/"]Kimi Antonelli[/a] won his fourth straight race for Mercedes.[/p][p]Norris is in fifth place in the drivers' standings ⁠73 points behind the Italian teenager, ⁠while Piastri is sixth a ‌further 10 points back.[/p][p][b]"Today was not our day," [/b]Stella said.[/p]