“Daniel is an experienced driver” – McLaren team principal Andreas Seidl is optimistic about the reunion with Mercedes, and the impact of Daniel Ricciardo after he switched from Renault.
McLaren did amazingly well last season, almost surprisingly. From a state of not even being financially sound of competing before the start of the season, the British team went on to finish P3 in the Constructors Championship.
This season, though, there are some significant changes happening at the forefront of the team. Firstly, Carlos Sainz has left for Ferrari, to be replaced by Daniel Ricciardo, formerly of Renault. The other change sees Renault going out, with Mercedes returning to partner McLaren after a significant gap. This leaves the French giants with no customer teams, though Alfa Romeo has hinted they might do so from 2022 if Ferrari engines continue to struggle.
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McLaren F1 boss hopeful of big things from Daniel Ricciardo and Mercedes
Andreas Seidl, the team boss, is hoping for strong performances from both Daniel Ricciardo and Mercedes. All the three entities concerned were super impressive last season, and the dynamite partnership of Danny Ric and Lando Norris could only make things better for the iconic team.
“Our objective is clear. With the plan we have in place up to the first race, not only with the integration of the Mercedes power unit but also with Daniel, we obviously want to be competitive again from the first race onwards.”
“We have a very talented team, a very committed team with a lot of experience. Our colleagues from Brixworth [Mercedes High-Performance Powertrains] are obviously very experienced as well, Daniel is an experienced driver.”
“We are aware of the challenge but at the same time I’m quite confident that we can overcome this challenge over the winter and that we can be in good shape from the first outing.”
