McLaren highlight 'dialogue and teamwork' as key to avoiding Bottas-type issue
McLaren highlight 'dialogue and teamwork' as key to avoiding Bottas-type issue
McLaren team principal Andreas Seidl has highlighted "dialogue" and "teamwork" as being instrumental in avoiding the type of scenario that unfolded between Mercedes and Valtteri Bottas during the French Grand Prix.
Bottas was left fuming with Mercedes for ignoring his calls to switch to a two-stop strategy as he dropped from second to fourth at the Paul Ricard Circuit where he felt he could even have won the race if the team had heeded his remarks.
Due to the information and modelling tools at a team's disposal, a driver's demands are often ignored given the lack of intelligence about a race they have at their disposal inside the cockpit. In France, Bottas was proven correct.
Asked as to how much of a say Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo have when it comes to the strategy calls during a race, Seidl said: “I would say it is clearly teamwork.
"You need feedback from the drivers to double-check if all the assumptions the strategy team is doing is matching what the driver is feeling as well inside the car.
“It is a dialogue, it is teamwork. That is it, and from the drivers, it is important to get feedback from them.
"That is why we regularly ask them about the state of the tyres, about what they think.
"For example, if the safety car comes out, can they restart the tyres or not because that is something where you need the input from the drivers.
"At the same time, I guess the drivers also trust us a lot that with us obviously having the big picture the driver cannot always have, that we make the right decisions.
“It is also clear that you do not always get it right as a team, on the driver’s side or on the team’s side, and it is important to learn from it and get better next time.”
McLaren facing see-saw battle with Ferrari
Following fine performances from Norris and Ricciardo in finishing fifth and sixth, McLaren has now opened up a 16-point cushion over Ferrari in the fight for third this year after the Scuderia surprisingly failed to score in France.
Seidl, though, believes it is still "early in the season" to make a call as to how the battle will unfold, even though Ferrari took a stride backwards at the weekend.
"We have seen in previous races how quick it can go when you have a weekend where you struggle to score any points for various reasons or you suddenly make big points because you grab an opportunity," assessed Seidl.
“We have seen a trend at a lot of races this year that we have a stronger race car than a qualifying car at the moment and that some others struggle on Sundays, but you never know who has found what from one weekend to the next.
“It is simply important, as we always do, to focus on ourselves, try to extract the maximum we have from the package on Saturdays and Sundays, together with our drivers.
"Then we are hopefully in a good position to keep this battle up against a very strong Ferrari team.”
Related
Change your timezone:
Latest News
F1 star BLASTS rival over 'risky precedent'
- Just now
Newey calls for changes at Red Bull after exit announcement
- 1 hour ago
Newey deals major Ferrari blow after announcing Red Bull departure
- 2 hours ago
Norris predicts Verstappen friendship CHANGE
- 3 hours ago
Red Bull star opens up on uncertain F1 future
- Today 16:57
Historic Lewis Hamilton race car makes EPIC return
- Today 15:57
F1 Race Calendar 2024
-
GP BAHRAIN
29 Feb - 2 Mar
Max Verstappen
-
GP SAUDI ARABIA
7 - 9 Mar
Max Verstappen
-
GP AUSTRALIA
22 - 24 Mar
Carlos Sainz
-
GP JAPAN
5 - 7 Apr
Max Verstappen
-
GP CHINA
19 - 21 Apr
Max Verstappen
-
GP USA
3 - 5 May
Lando Norris
- GP ITALY 17 - 19 May
- GP MONACO 24 - 26 May
- GP CANADA 7 - 9 Jun
- GP SPAIN 21 - 23 Jun
- GP AUSTRIA 28 - 30 Jun
- GP GREAT BRITAIN 5 - 7 Jul
Related news
McLaren stars BOOSTED as Hamilton misery made worse
New exposed McLaren feature could leave rivals worried insists former F1 star
Stunning Norris win dedicated to tragedy
F1 boss makes STUNNING Red Bull challenge claim
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
- AWS 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