McLaren 'still has deficits in all areas' to Mercedes and Red Bull

Ricciardo, McLaren, RussianGP — Photo: © LAT Images

Russian Grand Prix

McLaren 'still has deficits in all areas' to Mercedes and Red Bull

McLaren has continued its rise to the top in the 2021 season

Sam Hall

Wednesday 29 September 2021 08:00

Andreas Seidl believes McLaren still has 'deficits in all areas' compared to F1 championship contenders Mercedes and Red Bull despite a recent surge in form.

McLaren came agonisingly close to securing a second consecutive victory in Russia after wet weather and a failure to pit Lando Norris for intermediate tyres gifted Lewis Hamilton his historic 100th F1 victory.

Despite a one-two finish in Monza - with McLaren the only team to record such a feat this season - and Norris' maiden pole position at the Sochi Autodrom, Seidl feels the two title protagonists still hold sway.

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“Despite what happened at the end of the race [in Russia], we have a team that is most of the time spot on with the strategy, with tyres and so on during a race, so I am very happy with the progress we are making," insisted Seidl.

“But of course, compared to the teams that are ahead of us in the championship, we still have deficits, I would say, in all areas.

“That is why it is important after a weekend like Monza, for example, or after the pole position in Russia, that the first thing you have to do is analyse what you could have done better because there is always something you can do better.

“The moment you are satisfied with what you have achieved is the start of the decline so that is how we approach it.”

McLaren has made "big steps" in the right direction

Speaking immediately after the Russian GP, Seidl cut a very different figure to the jovial persona displayed after qualifying on Saturday, a fact that represents the progress made by McLaren in recent years.

As recently as 2019, a double-points finish would have been celebrated but now, after finishing fourth and seventh and collecting just a point less than Red Bull from a race, such a position is viewed less favourably.

“It is clear when I look back at the last two and a half years, we have made big steps forward in terms of the execution and operation as a race team during race weekends," added Seidl.

"A big part of that is this ability we have in the team, in terms of personnel.

“We are building this up together, learning from the mistakes that are happening and that is what we see in terms of results.

"I don’t want to say too much, but we have a great run of reliability which is obviously a key to scoring all of these points all the time from the car side."