Andreas Seidl: We are ready for any scenario

In the first practice in Sao Paulo, Lando Norris showed the 15th result and Daniel Riccardo was on the last, 20th line of the protocol. Andreas Seidl, the head of the McLaren team, makes no secret of the fact that there is still work to be done on the speed of the car, but is quite optimistic.

Andreas Seidl: “We expect the rivalry to be very intense again this weekend. So far, in those stages, which included the sprint, we have generally performed well – we hope this will be the case in Brazil.

However, if you look at the results from the first session, it is immediately clear that we should try to increase the speed of the car – our drivers have not complained about grip problems and so far we are lagging behind Alpine. That’s why our engineers, together with Lando and Daniel, are now looking for ways to take a step forward in the qualifying preparation process.

And yet we are confident that we will be able to return to the battle for high results, and both our cars will qualify for the final session. However, it is difficult to predict how events will develop if it rains. Usually our riders are quite comfortable in such conditions, but we are ready for any scenario.

Lando was unwell yesterday so he chose to stay in the hotel but he seems fine today and looked very normal after the session. We don’t expect any new complications this weekend.

We are very happy with Daniel’s work in Mexico City, where he has felt very comfortable behind the wheel, and of course we expect him to perform just as well this weekend. I would like to finish the championship well together, because to stay ahead of Alpine in the battle for 4th place in the Constructors’ Championship, both drivers need to earn points.”