McLaren buoyed by fact it has "third-best car" behind Mercedes and Red Bull
McLaren buoyed by fact it has "third-best car" behind Mercedes and Red Bull
McLaren team principal Andreas Seidl left the Formula 1 season-opener in Bahrain encouraged by the fact his team had the "third-best car".
Despite appearing to be best of the rest behind Red Bull and Mercedes on occasions last year and ultimately finishing third in the constructors' championship, Seidl always felt main rival Racing Point's RP20 was the third-best car.
After qualifying well in Bahrain with Daniel Ricciardo sixth and Lando Norris seventh, the latter went on to finish fourth behind podium trio Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen and Valtteri Bottas.
As for Ricciardo, after being hampered by damage caused when AlphaTauri driver Pierre Gasly ran into him in the early exchanges, the Australian still managed to score points for finishing seventh.
“It was encouraging to see that if we look at Lando’s race, we had the third-best car," said Seidl before the damage to Ricciardo's floor had been confirmed.
"What was also encouraging to see was that if you look at the gap between Lando and Lewis, who had a pretty much flat-out race, it was only about 45 seconds.
"That again confirms we have made a good step forward compared to these top guys over the winter. As I have said many times, this is key to getting back to the front in the future."
As is typical of his character, Seidl was quick to pay tribute to the work of McLaren's midfield rivals during the off-season whilst reiterating his team cannot rest on any laurels given its early-season pace.
“At the same time, we have to acknowledge that we have strong competition that also made good steps forward," added Seidl.
"That is the bigger picture and we need to make sure we simply don’t get carried away from that result and we keep working hard to bring more updates to the car to make sure we stay in this battle."
Related
Change your timezone:
Latest News
Haas announce Hulkenberg EXIT as F1 star's new team confirmed
- Today 11:27
F1 champion claims Drive to Survive success was 'very lucky'
- 2 hours ago
F1 franchise welcomes return of INCREDIBLE feature
- 3 hours ago
F1 News Today: Red Bull star set to QUIT team as F1 driver role CONFIRMED for 2025
- Today 12:38
F1 team set to axe BOTH star drivers
- Today 12:05
Red Bull to lose F1 MVP as true cost of Horner saga hits
- Today 09:57
Related news
McLaren leading fight for HUGE cash injection
Young F1 star set to make McLaren debut in injury replacement
F1 star reveals how Verstappen and Hamilton rivalry influenced key decision
Norris reveals CRUCIAL save that kept him at McLaren
F1 Standings
Drivers
- Oliver Bearman
- Charles Leclerc
- Carlos Sainz
- Lando Norris
- Oscar Piastri
- Pierre Gasly
- Esteban Ocon
- Sergio Pérez
- Max Verstappen
- Alexander Albon
- Logan Sargeant
- Lewis Hamilton
- George Russell
- Nico Hülkenberg
- Kevin Magnussen
- Fernando Alonso
- Lance Stroll
- Valtteri Bottas
- Zhou Guanyu
- Daniel Ricciardo
- Yuki Tsunoda
Races
- Gulf Air Grand Prix of Bahrain 2024
- Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Australia 2024
- MSC Cruises Grand Prix of Japan 2024
- Grand Prix of China 2024
- Miami Grand Prix 2024
- Gran Premio dell'Emilia Romagna 2024
- Grand Prix of Monaco 2024
- Grand Prix du Canada 2024
- Gran Premio de España 2024
- Grand Prix of Austria 2024
- Grand Prix of Great Britain 2024
- Grand Prix of Hungary 2024
- Grand Prix of Belgium 2024
- Heineken Dutch Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Italy 2024
- Grand Prix of Azerbaijan 2024
- Grand Prix of Singapore 2024
- Grand Prix of the United States 2024
- Gran Premio de la Ciudad de Mexico 2024
- Grande Prêmio de São Paulo 2024
- Heineken Silver Las Vegas Grand Prix 2024
- Qatar Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi 2024
About GPFans
GPFans is a multi-platform, multi-language brand dedicated to Formula One coverage. We bring you all the ins and outs of the sport, 24/7, everything from up-to-the-minute news and features to the latest viral stories and clips.We believe that a new generation of exciting, outspoken drivers will make F1 more popular than ever before, and we want to give our users access to as much of their heroes as possible, on and off the track. From Lewis Hamilton to Max Verstappen, Daniel Ricciardo to Sebastian Vettel, we provide in-depth analysis of every every Grand Prix in the season, from Australia to Abu Dhabi.
With Formula One under the new ownership of Liberty Media, how the sport is being covered is evolving, and GPFans will look to be at the heart of this progression into new media, as one of the fastest-growing sites covering the king of motorsports.
Follow us on your favorite social media channel
Corporate & Media
Innovatieweg 20C7007 CD, Doetinchem, Netherlands
+31645516860