Andreas Seidl Reveals Why He Chose McLaren on His F1 Return

McLaren were a bit lost when Andreas Seidl joined the team in late 2018. They had finished sixth in the constructors’ championship and had just lost their star driver Fernando Alonso.

But under the leadership of team principal Andreas Seidl, the Woking squad have had a turnaround. They been on an upward trajectory since the beginning of the 2019 season; they finished fourth in the constructors’ championship in 2019 and improved to 3rd in the 2020 season.

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The commitment shown by McLaren had impressed me: Andreas Seidl

While speaking on The Fast Lane podcast, Seidl revealed the main reason and motivation behind his decision to join McLaren.

“Obviously I was in a good position at Porsche at the time but I had my main issue talked with Zak and also the shareholders at McLaren. I was simply impressed by the commitment in terms of getting this team back up the order in F1.

“That definitely made an impression. This gave me confidence despite, let’s say, the bad stint McLaren was in, that there is actually a chance together with the team and with all the talented people at McLaren to get the team back up.

“With seeing the commitment on the financial side and all the investments as well. I simply felt that I wanted to be part of this journey. It’s the same today, I wake up in the morning because I want to put a part of a generation here at McLaren that hopefully fights for race wins again.

“And the championships in the future. That was very attractive to me.” said the McLaren team principal.

Seidl disappointed by Ricciardo’s progress with the team

The team principal has mentioned that it’s been disappointing to see Ricciardo‘s lack of pace in the car. However, he is confident that the Aussie will find his footing within the team soon.

But Andreas hopes that Ricciardo finds pace faster so that they do not lose ground to Ferrari in the constructors’ fight. McLaren and Ferrari are currently fighting for third in the constructors’ championship.

“I don’t think he imagined it would be so difficult to change teams. He’s disappointed, so are we. Because we thought he would be faster.” said Seidl.

Can Seidl guide McLaren to a title in the future? Let us know.