McLaren believe F1 pecking order "difficult" to read after brace of street races

McLaren

McLaren believe F1 pecking order "difficult" to read after brace of street races

McLaren appeared to drop behind Ferrari in Monaco and Baku

Sam Hall

Thursday 10 June 2021 14:55

McLaren team principal Andreas Seidl believes it is impossible to declare a concrete pecking order after the recent pair of street races shook up the F1 pack.

Before grands prix in Monaco and Azerbaijan, Mercedes held a 29-point advantage over Red Bull with third-placed McLaren enjoying a five-point margin over Ferrari.

But following those two races, the order has changed as Red Bull leads Mercedes by 26 points, while Ferrari is four points clear of McLaren.

Article continues under video

Asked if he hoped the picture would revert back again at the 'more normal' French Grand Prix layout at Paul Ricard, Seidl quipped: “I hope so!"

He added: "It’s still difficult to judge. Everybody is still developing the car as well.

"Everybody is also still understanding their cars better and better and therefore it is difficult to draw any conclusions from earlier races in the season in terms of the pecking order on specific tracks.

“So I simply think it is difficult to say."

McLaren closer to Red Bull

Seidl has made no secret of McLaren's desire to again become a championship contender.

Despite falling behind Ferrari in the standings, the German is confident the team is closing the gap on Red Bull and Mercedes.

"We definitely got a lot closer to the Red Bulls and the Mercedes in front of us in terms of pace which is encouraging," added Seidl.

"These are the steps that we have to make as a team.”

More F1 news

Latest F1 news

Toto Wolff gives Ferrari warning to Kimi Antonelli as Italy swoons over talented teenager

1 minute ago

Shock plans for F1 Danish Grand Prix emerge

1 hour ago

Nurburgring 24 Hours: Meet Max Verstappen's team-mates for iconic race this weekend

2 hours ago

F1 News Today: Aston Martin announcement 'expected' as team reveal major upgrade package

2 hours ago

George Russell's brazen F1 claim is already coming back to bite him at Mercedes

3 hours ago

Inside Max Verstappen's radical preparation for Nurburgring 24 Hours race: No sleep for F1 star