McLaren’s Andreas Seidl: “We were not as competitive as we would have liked to be”

The McLaren F1 Team conceded points to the BWT Alpine F1 Team during Sunday’s Japanese Grand Prix, with the two teams again switching places in the Constructors’ Championship as they battle over fourth place.

With Esteban Ocon finishing fourth and Fernando Alonso seventh at the Suzuka International Racing Course, Alpine regained the fourth place they lost just seven days previously in Singapore, with McLaren scoring only one point thanks to Lando Norris taking tenth place.

Andreas Seidl, the Team Principal at McLaren, says Norris was unfortunate to lose several positions at the initial start which left him on the back foot in his bid for the top ten, while the team were too conservative when it came to the call to switch Daniel Ricciardo from the full wet to intermediate tyre on the restart.

This meant the two drivers were left fighting through the pack rather than for places deep inside the top ten, and it left the team thirteen points behind Alpine heading into the final four races of the 2022 FIA Formula 1 World Championship season.

“It was a disappointing Sunday afternoon for us,” said Seidl.  “On Daniel’s side, despite moving up some positions at the initial start we were too conservative at the restart, staying out for too long which resulted in losing positions and dropping out of the points.

“On Lando’s side we unfortunately lost several positions at the initial start which we then recovered by pitting at the right time following the restart. Overall, we were not as competitive as we would have liked to be. We will now use the time we have before Austin to see how we can extract more.

“Thanks to the entire team here at the track, back home and HPP for completing an intense double header. I’m happy for the great Japanese fans that got to see some racing in challenging conditions.

“Also, congratulations to Max for his second World Championship.”