"Looked like idiots": Piastri furious after strategy disaster

• Lindblad did not start the race
• Albon forced to retire
• Piastri cops 10-second penalty
• Russell's race ended on Lap 29
• Alonso forced to retire lap 31
• Norris retires lap 40

Oscar Piastri didn't mince his words after the Canadian Grand Prix.

"We looked like idiots," he told Sky F1 after a disastrous strategy decision from McLaren.

Rain was falling in the lead-up to the race and there had been severe weather warnings in Montreal so both drivers were sent to the grid with intermediate tyres.

By the time the race started, the track was bone dry.

McLaren stood by their decision.

Moreover, Piastri had voiced his concerns to the team, insisting they had made a mistake and that they could have started from pit lane in order to change to the softs. His plea fell on deaf ears.

"It feels like I'm floating around on these tyres quite a bit already," the Australian said on the formation lap. "The rain has stopped. We need slicks. If we pit now we will have warm tyres. This is a mistake now."

He was not wrong.

"It's an unusual decision," Martin Brundle said of the McLaren strategy before the race.

"Let's see if it pays dividends in the first few laps but I don't think I would want them on. What they need now is an early Safety Car. Piastri is right and this is the last thing they need."

The safety car never came and Piastri was in the pits on the first lap to change his wheels.

It made little difference. The fact his teammate Lando Norris took the lead on the opening lap was nothing but a false. He was in the pits two laps in.

Misery continued from there. Lap 13 saw Piastri back in the pits for a new front wing. Replays showed he collided with Alex Albon and ultimately ended the Williams driver's race.

It was a rookie mistake from Piastri who was then handed a 10-second penalty to really consolidate the absolute mess of a day.

By lap 21 McLaren had pitted their cars four times with Norris forced to retire.

It was a day to forget for the papaya who are now third in the constructors championship.

Piastri was fuming afterwards.

“I mean, it was raining. And between the anthem and getting in the car it was pretty wet on the ground in all honesty,” he told Sky Sports.

“There was definitely no standing water, but you could clearly tell where it was wet and where it was dry.

“And getting to the grid was not easy on slicks. Getting to full throttle was pretty tough.

“Unfortunately for us it stopped raining as the formation lap started basically.

“It’s just one of those things where if it rained a little bit more we would have looked like heroes, but it didn’t, so we looked like idiots.

“So just one of those things.”

He also apologised to Albon.

“I felt like I was going into the corner pretty carefully and locked the front and then that was it,” Piastri added.

“So, yeah, obviously not my finest moment and apologies to Alex and Williams because it was unnecessary damage for both of us. Especially for them.

“So, yeah, just one of those things.”

Asked to explain the tactical gamble on the tyres, McLaren team principal Andrea Stella said the aborted race starts only went against them

“We opted for intermediates five minutes before the start because the track was greasy and it was still raining,” he said.

“Unfortunately, the rain stopped as soon as the tyres went on, the track dried quickly, and two extra formation laps took away any advantage.”

Norris said he was responsible for the push for inters: “We made the decision as a team (but) I also pushed for it, so I kind of take the responsibility for that one.”

Kimi Antonelli won the battle of the Silver Arrows to claim his fourth consecutive win of the season with Lewis Hamilton second and Max Verstappen securing his first podium of the season for third.

"I had some cool battles out there, to have the first podium is really positive," Verstappen said. "In a weekend where it's not always easy to get things right it's good to have the positives."

KIMI ANTONELLI WINS THE CANADIAN GRAND PRIX!

That's a fourth consecutive win for the Italian. Hamilton holds on to second with Verstappen third to complete the podium.

That's Max Verstappen's first podium of the season! Weird to write that five races into the year.

Lap 67 Antonelli leads

Two laps to go and while this race has had some truly memorable moments and sublime racing it was tinged with sadness from the get go (if you're a Piastri fan).

Baffling how someone in that team thought inters were the move. Equally amazing is that they seem to have been shown a weather predictor that no other tem appears to have been shown.

Billions of dollars run through these teams, this just seems like such a rookie error.

We await the McLaren drivers press conference with intrigue..

Piastri looks set to finish 11th

LAP 62 MASTERCLASS

Lewis Hamilton, at the tender age of 41, has just rolled back the years for the most incredible move on Verstappen to take second place!

Six laps to go and there's no way this battle is over. Magic.

LAP 55 - Antonelli leads

VSC has ended.

If you're wondering about Oscar Piastri, he's endured a miserable day out in Canada. He was started on the wrong tyres by McLaren, he flagged it, they didn't change it.

He then pitted on lap one before colliding with Albon 15 or so laps later causing him to pit again for a new front wing and he then copped a 10-second penalty for the collision.

Piastri is currently in 13th and there's 16 cars left on the track.

It's not been a good day for him or Lando Norris who is out of the race.

LAP 47 - Antonelli leads

The top three remains the same with Leclerc now into fourth. Not said much and it should be noted how well Liam Lawson is driving today. Currently in 7th and yet to change his tyres.

Alonso's retirement was because of an issue with his seat is the news form the pitlane. Seems the same reason he quit the sprint race.

"Engine stopped, I'm a bit lost for words right now. I'm proud of my weekend, I was leading when I stopped and having a good battle with Kimi. I will leave satisfied rather than frustrated with what's happened. What more can I do?"

Asked about the battle with Kimi he added: "I love it, felt like the old karting days, that's what racing is about."

Piastri is now in 11th but yet to serve his penalty.

LAP 40 NORRIS IS OUT

Just another notch in the McLaren day of misery, Lando Norris is out of the race. His second retirement of the season I think that is and his second consecutive exit in Canada.

Looks like a gearbox issue.

They're dropping like flies, now we have Sergio Perez out of the race. That's six drivers out.

LAP 35 Race resumes

We are back racing and the pits stops have been completed. Fernando Alonso has also retired between all the drama.

Antonelli restarts in the lead with Verstappen second and Hamilton third.

Piastri down in 12th has just been lapped - so there's a morale boost for the morning. His teammate Norris is up to 9th.

Don't forget Piastri still has a 10-second penalty to complete.

LAP 38 Antonelli leads

Not spoken much about the Ferraris today but they're currently the fastest car on the track.

Charles Leclerc has been in no man's land for much of the race but he's now coming up the ranks and is fifth chasing Hadjar.

Further ahead, Hamilton is steaming up behind Verstappen for second. Running his car ragged the seven-time champion.

LAP 30 RUSSELL IS OUT!

Drama - the battle of the Mercedes has come to an abrupt end. Russell went off track and his race is OVER.

Looks like a power unit issue from coming off track. That's his first DNF since Silverstone 2024.

Virtual Safety Car and this is a huge moment for those who have not pitted.

LAP 28 Calm it down

The Mercedes drivers have made contact...they're front wheels just coming together as they battle for the lead and the big boss has stepped in.

Toto Wolff and the engineers have told the pair to calm tings down. They don't need to be this aggressive.

Antonelli's engineer has told him that both cars are under investigation - they're not.

"Race without risk" is what Russell has been told.

Further back Piastri and Norris remain 13th and 12th respectively.

PIASTRI PENALISED

It's a 10-second penalty for Oscar Piastri for that collision with Alex Albon.

Just go to the pits mate. It's been a miserable day at the office.

Jeez.

"Major, major disappointment and there will be a very big debrief at McLaren after this," ted Kravitz said on Sky. "Who made the decision to start on inters? Who predicted the weather?"

Here's a replay of what happened:

LAP 21 - new leader

The fight between Russell and Antonelli is simply sublime. Old school teammates going at it hammer and tongs.

In what will be seen as a career low, the current world champions Lando Norris is about to be LAPPED by Mercedes.

Antonelli is back in the lead. This is awesome.

1-10 ANT, RUS, VER, HAM, LEC, HAD, COL, LAW, GAS, BEA

LAP 16 McLaren's misery continues

Lano Norris has been called into the pits for power issues. Not even 20 laps done and McLaren have pitted four times. FOUR TIMES!

Disastrous given that their youngest driver warned them pre race they were maing a mistake. Bet that link to Red Bull doesn't seem so bad now eh Oscar?

LAP 13

PIASTRI in the pits and it looks like he may have made contact with Albon. The Australian has had a new front wing.

It's a nasty smash between Piastri and Albon and I think we can expect a penalty for the McLaren. That was so silly.

Lap 12

This is not making for good viewing for McLaren fans. It's an absolute disaster. They're 30 seconds off the front runners.

The duel between the Mercedes continues up front, they're yo-yo-ing for the lead now. SUCH good battling.

YELLOW FLAG. Alex Albon's car has stopped and there might be an issue with Nico Hulkenberg.

LAP 7 New leader

George Russell has just made an almighty move on his teammate to take the lead but in doing so Antonelli locked up in a big way and almost crashed out of the race.

The pair came very close to colliding there. Rookie error from the Italian.

As they battle it out for first and second, Hamilton and Verstappen are battling behind in 3rd and 4th.

Hvaing pitted, Norris and Piastri are back in 13th and 14th.

__LAP 1: __

In scenes nobody saw coming, Lando Norris flew into the lead off the race start. It was only a one lap lead as he and Piastri went straight into the pits for soft tyres. How disappointing. Imagine what that could have meant for McLaren. Antonelli leads.

How they started:

1st row George Russell (GBR/Mercedes), Kimi Antonelli (ITA/Mercedes)

2nd row Lando Norris (GBR/McLaren-Mercedes), Oscar Piastri (AUS/McLaren-Mercedes)

3rd row Lewis Hamilton (GBR/Ferrari), Max Verstappen (NED/Red Bull)

4th row Isack Hadjar (FRA/Red Bull), Charles Leclerc (MON/Ferrari)

5th row Arvid Lindblad (GBR/Racing Bulls-Red Bull), Franco Colapinto (ARG/Alpine-Mercedes)

6th row Nico Hülkenberg (GER/Audi), Liam Lawson (NZL/Racing Bulls-Red Bull)

7th row Gabriel Bortoleto (BRA/Audi), Pierre Gasly (FRA/Alpine-Mercedes)

8th row Carlos Sainz Jr (ESP/Williams-Mercedes), Oliver Bearman (GBR/Haas-Ferrari)

9th row Esteban Ocon (FRA/Haas-Ferrari), Alexander Albon (THA/Williams-Mercedes)

10th row Fernando Alonso (ESP/Aston Martin-Honda), Sergio Pérez (MEX/Cadillac-Ferrari)

11th row Valtteri Bottas (FIN/Cadillac-Ferrari)

Lance Stroll (CAN/Aston Martin-Honda) starts from the pitlane.