McLaren warn "miracles" unlikely in Australia

McLaren

McLaren warn "miracles" unlikely in Australia

McLaren has failed to reach Q3 in first two races of new season

Ian Parkes & Sam Hall

Thursday 31 March 2022 14:20 Updated: 12:10

McLaren team principal Andreas Seidl has warned against expecting any miracles of a potential recovery at the Australian Grand Prix.

Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo have so far endured a tough start to the current F1 season, with a brake cooling issue discovered in the second pre-season test partly to blame for their car's lack of pace.

McLaren had appeared to be one of the teams to beat after faring well in the initial Barcelona test, but the opening two races have seen the team struggle, notably failing to so far reach Q3.

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Across the two grands prix in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, McLaren has scored just six points, with the team sitting eighth in the constructors' standings.

“We need to see which improvements we can make for Melbourne but at the same time, I don’t expect miracles there," said Seidl. “We will simply need a bit more time.”

Asked of his expectations for McLaren on the reworked Albert Park layout, Seidl joked: “Ask me again on Thursday in Melbourne."

More seriously, he added: "I need to wait now for all the analysis from the team after these two weekends, to understand more the strengths and weaknesses of the current car."