McLaren driver Lando Norris experienced a Formula 1 Grand Prix of bankruptcy, misfortune and breakdown in Montreal.

He only started in 14th place after a problem with the drive unit’s sensors in qualifying and the team was forced to use an older unit for the race at the expense of performance.

During the second virtual safety car phase, the team then brought Norris to the pits, where his teammate Daniel Ricciardo was being sent. Norris had to wait as the Australian slowed to a halt due to a problem on the right front.

And then his own tires weren’t ready and he’d lose more valuable seconds before moving on. The British eventually finished 15th, while Ricciardo also missed out on a point in 11th place. Both were asked to take care of their brakes in the closing stages.

Sees the need to hold the saddle at all levels

“Obviously a disappointing day for us, a very disappointing weekend for various reasons,” said team boss Andreas Seidl. “There were issues with reliability, an issue with race flow, but also in terms of speed and where we want to be.”

When asked what really happened at the pit stop, he says: “Obviously I don’t want to go into too much detail because this is something that we as a team have to investigate internally to see if gone wrong.” Ultimately, there was a “communication problem within the team” that caused the delay.

Asked about the loss of speed in the final stage, Seidl admitted: “With both cars we had to manage some parameters at the end of the race, the brakes, and that is why Daniel was not able to keep up the pace. Was and attack.”

Rivals are catching up in midfield

While McLaren is still fourth in the Constructors’ Championship, the team has only 19 points from the last five races and rivals are holding out: Alpine has collected 35 points and Alfa Romeo has collected 26 points.

“If you look at the last two races, there is definitely a tendency that we have lagged behind, especially compared to the Alpine,” says McLaren team boss Seidl. “But some other cars have also improved a lot, like the Astons on Friday.” Lance Stroll finished tenth in the race.

“So it’s clear that we need to improve in all areas: reliability, operation, performance to make sure we stay in fourth place.” However, Seidl has confirmed that there will be no upgrade in the near term.

“Our idea is to continue learning about the car and use this knowledge to get the most out of the existing package. As of now, for various reasons, there are no plans for major upgrades, even to stay within the cost range. , he insisted.

On the plus side, Seidl believes the power unit removed from Norris’ car before the race can be put back into the pool. “It was a problem with a sensor that caused a power loss and a misfire, which is why we had to cancel Q2.”

“But we believe the affected power unit can be repaired, and so there is currently no indication that we will be able to finish the season with three power units,” the team owner can at least clarify here.