McLaren must raise its game in F1 qualifying - Seidl

Sam Hall
Saturday 15 May 2021 11:05

McLaren team principal Andreas Seidl believes his team must start to make its life easier with stronger performances in Formula 1 qualifying.

At the first four races of this season, McLaren has qualified behind at least one of the Ferrari drivers, with Charles Leclerc notably starting fourth at three events - Bahrain, Imola and Spain.

McLaren's best grid position has been Daniel Ricciardo's sixth in Bahrain and Imola, the latter where Lando Norris came close to third but for a track limits infringement.

Seidl said: “If you look at the whole season I think it is clear we need to try to finish higher up on Saturdays.

“In the end, it makes your life so much easier on Sundays if, for example, you do your stints in free air without pressure from behind.

"We have managed that in some races already this year because of having a good start or a good first lap and it brought us back to the position where we wanted to be on Saturday in qualifying."

The results do not paint the entire picture given how close Norris came to what would have been a sensational result ahead of the Emilia Romagna GP.

“In the end, there was some bad luck also involved," added Seidl. "I don’t know if it’s right to call it bad luck. If you infringe track limits it is your own fault to a certain degree.

“But it is clear that is the goal. We want to finish higher up on Saturdays. In the end, you want to finish on Saturday where the potential of the car is.

"A lot of different factors obviously have to come together to manage this. Some stuff is under your control, some things not but that is clear to make sure we have easier Sundays.”