Lando Norris missed out on pole for the Canadian Grand Prix and will start from seventh on the grid as he attempts to close the gap to title rival Oscar Piastri.
The Briton made a mistake on his first run at the final chicane and had to abort his lap, then McLaren opted to go with the soft tyre in his final run, which prevented him from improving.
Both Max Verstappen and polesitter George Russell noted that the switch to the medium tyre for their laps was crucial in gaining time, as it did not overheat as much as the soft over the course of a lap.
Discussing his qualifying session on the BBC Chequered Flag podcast, Sam Bird explained his theory for why he thinks McLaren missed out this weekend.
Sam Bird has a theory on why Lando Norris missed out on Canadian GP pole
Norris was quickest in FP3 heading into qualifying, but the margins were really small with Leclerc, with his best time only 0.078s faster and in the high 1:11s.
Bird believes McLaren made the wrong tyre choice, which impacted the balance of Norris’ car during the critical pole lap shootout.
“I have a theory on the soft compound tyre versus the medium. I’ve experienced this once before in my career, where I’ve put on a soft compound tyre at Le Mans, and I didn’t like the balance of the car,” said Bird.
“The sidewall of the tyre was softer due to the compound, and the tyre felt like it was falling over itself all the time, which is kind of what it looked like was happening to Lando Norris in the latter parts of Q3.
“I wonder whether they’re trying to ask so much of the sidewall that it just feels like it’s falling over and they don’t have that support from that tyre.”
Lando Norris only finished on the podium twice when starting outside of top six
Norris has only ever finished on the podium twice when starting outside of the top six positions in his F1 career.
The first was at Imola in 2021 when he started from seventh and at the 2023 Qatar Grand Prix when he started from 10th on the grid.
One stat that does go in Norris’ favour is that drivers who have started from seventh have won more times in Montreal this century compared to those who have started from third, fourth, or fifth combined.
Drivers have won from seventh on the grid twice at the track, with Kimi Raikkonen achieving the feat in 2005 and Jenson Button during his famous race in 2011.
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