Andreas Seidl, Team Principal at the McLaren F1 Team believes that six points is the maximum the papaya-coloured outfit could have hoped for at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, after struggling with drag all week in the McLaren MCL36 package. Daniel Ricciardo would cross the finish line in eighth-place, ahead of team-mate, Lando Norris, in ninth after failing to make Qualifying Three on Saturday, and splitting the strategies on Sunday.
“Given our starting positions and the performance we had in our package this weekend, we are happy leaving Baku with six points for the team. Daniel and Lando worked together with the team and maximised all that was in our hands today,” explained Seidl.
After briefly considering switching the drivers in the second stint to attempt an overtake on BWT Alpine F1 Team‘s Fernando Alonso, McLaren’s strategists opted to stay put due to not being able to compete with the straight-line speed that the Alpine showed.
“We knew before the race that, with our top-speed deficit at this track, we would struggle to overtake Alonso on track, which in the end didn’t allow us to progress further up the field despite trying a different strategy.
“We’ll keep working on understanding the car and see how we can optimise it further for the next race in Montreal, which is only a few days away.“
Seidl also thanked the fans and his colleagues for their efforts, as the team look ahead to the Canadian Grand Prix in one week’s time.
“Thank you to the entire team here at track, back home at MTC and our colleagues at HPP, as well as Daniel and Lando for all the hard work again this weekend. I’d also like to thank our amazing fans for their continued support throughout this season so far, wherever we go.
“The whole team are working tirelessly to unlock more performance within our car, so that we can keep up the fight in the Constructors’ Championship. Next stop Canada.”
McLaren will be hoping to improve upon their performance at the last Canadian Grand Prix, which was held in 2019 and removed from the calendar during the pandemic in the following two years.
