With so little time to recover from the hectic German Grand Prix weekend, Formula 1 reassembles at the Hungaroring for the Hungarian Grand Prix this weekend, with Andreas Seidl, the Team Principal of the McLaren F1 Team, insisting it is important to get their downforce levels right to be competitive.
The Hungaroring is renowned to be a difficult track to set-up due to the requirement of higher than usual levels of downforce, and Seidl says for both Carlos Sainz Jr. and Lando Norris to be a force this weekend, the team need to get the set-ups of their MCL34’s correct.
“Following a chaotic weekend in Germany, we go straight into preparation for the Hungarian Grand Prix,” said Seidl. “The Hungaroring poses a tricky challenge for the teams and generating high levels of downforce is crucial to getting our set-up right.
“It will be crucial to see what impact the track temperatures and tyres have when we get on track this Friday.”
Despite the summer break coming up just after the conclusion of Sunday’s race, Seidl says the team must keep their focus throughout their time at the Hungaroring if they are to consolidate their fourth place in the Constructors’ Championship and give both drivers the chance to score points.
Although Norris retired for the third time this year in Germany, Sainz secured the teams’ best result of the season with fifth, despite an early spin in the wet conditions exiting the penultimate corner after running wide onto the run-off area. This means McLaren remain fourth, twenty-eight points clear of their nearest challengers, which is now Scuderia Toro Rosso in fifth.
“Although the summer break is just around the corner, we are focussed on keeping our trackside operations at the highest possible level, and we must keep pushing if we are to maintain our gap over the rest of the midfield,” insists Seidl.
“In particular, we need to ensure the reliability of our cars, so that we give our drivers the best possible tools to do their job.”
