McLaren faced multiple challenges during the Canadian Grand Prix main event despite Lando Norris's sprint podium. The papaya team encountered problems across all racing areas, including a strategic error starting on wrong tires, Oscar Piastri's collision with Alex Albon, and a gearbox failure forcing Norris's retirement. These issues prevented them from properly evaluating their latest upgrades.

Team principal Andrea Stella believes McLaren wouldn't have beaten Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen even in a clean race. The MCL40 struggled significantly with tire temperature in colder conditions, with drivers unable to extract full performance. Stella's assessment suggests their current pace puts them as the second-best team behind Mercedes, with the car being more sensitive to temperature conditions than rivals.

The challenges led McLaren to temporarily shelve their new front wing while continuing evaluation of other Miami package components. Despite the setbacks, Stella believes a points finish would have been achievable without the early incidents. The weekend exposed fundamental limitations that the team must address before the next race.