“It’s just a question of time when they are back in a winning mood”– Former F1 driver feels McLaren have all the ingredients to be successful.
During the Bahrain Grand Prix, McLaren had an impressive result, as it bagged P4 and P6, making it the third most successful team last weekend after Mercedes and Red Bull.
Former F1 driver Gerhard Berger claims that it is only a matter of time when McLaren would start picking substantial results and wins, as they have the personnel to be at the top.
“McLaren lost it for a while, but now you can see, step by step, they are coming back,” Berger told the Australian Grand Prix’s In The Fast Lane podcast.
“They suffered a bit with the Renault engine, but now they have the Mercedes engine and a couple of good guys with Andreas Seidl [team principal] at the top.
“He is a top German engineer of the young generation, which is very important. He is still collecting experience race by race and has a big future ahead of him.
“They are set quite well; it’s just a question of time when they are back in a winning mood.”
Daniel Ricciardo did the right thing.
Whilst former Renault team principal Cyril Abiteboul constantly reiterated that he envisioned a long term project with Daniel Ricciardo, the Australian didn’t have the patience, as he announced his departure to McLaren even before the start of the season.
However, a few months later, neither Ricciardo nor Abiteboul remained in the team in 2021, and taking about Alpine, the evolved version of Renault, it is also not showing any progress. Therefore, Berger feels that Ricciardo made the right decision.
“I think for Daniel it was exactly the right choice,” he added. “This team needs one young driver, as they have [Norris], powerful as we saw at the weekend, so I think Daniel has to push himself.
“And on the other side, one experienced driver who has proved already he can also win races. A perfect combination. “On top of it, Daniel is always laughing, being friendly, giving a good atmosphere that will be very helpful also for the team.”
