Ricciardo McLaren integration explained

McLaren team principal Andreas Seidl has explained the integration process for new driver Daniel Ricciardo ahead of the forthcoming Formula 1 season.

The Australian driver has switched from Renault to McLaren as he aims to reach the top step of the podium for the first time since his Red Bull days in 2018.

Seidl has revealed the steps both Ricciardo and the team have taken in order to ensure the integration has been as smooth as possible.

"We want to make sure that when we hit the track in Bahrain, it doesn’t feel like Daniel doing the first race together with us," he said. "That is the goal.

"Based on that, we have come up with a clear plan, with a focus on the planning on the operations side to make sure he is ready for the first free practice session.

"In addition, we have to get him in place to get him integrated into the commercial side, the marketing side of the team. What we have achieved so far, I am very happy.

"We obviously had a lot of online sessions with him, to make him familiar with the way that we work with our car and with our system.

"Daniel [has been] on-site doing simulator sessions and seat fits and so on, together with the engineers and mechanics to get him ready.

"I am very happy with preparations so far, taking notice of the circumstances we are in.”

McLaren enters the new season off the back of its best campaign since 2012 after finishing third last term ahead of Racing Point and Renault.

But despite the momentum, Seidl has refused to be drawn on a solid positional goal for 2021, instead insisting the team must simply focus on closing the gap further to Mercedes and Red Bull.

"Obviously, it was a great achievement for us to get P3 last year," added Seidl.

"Coming into this year, we are expecting, again, a very tough battle with all the competitors we were fighting with last year.

"We have Lando now coming into his third year in Formula 1, with Daniel on board with us, he has a clear reference for the sport and we need to make sure that as a team, we work together.

"We want to get closer to the cars in front of us, the Mercedes and the Red Bull cars that we weren’t able to last year. We need to be realistic.”

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