“They can perhaps be in the fight with us” – Lewis Hamilton’s suggestion that McLaren can give able competition to Mercedes has pleased the former’s team principal Andreas Seidl.
McLaren has ended their stint with Renault and will be partnering with Mercedes yet again. This pleased McLaren’s last champion Lewis Hamilton, who hopes they can provide genuine competition to his Mercedes.
The #MCL35M roars into life. 🔊🔥
Watch on and listen in as we fire up our 2021 car for the first time… pic.twitter.com/v504FVupEX
— McLaren (@McLarenF1) January 27, 2021
This in turn has pleased the McLaren team principal Andreas Seidl, who at the same time is also realistic of his team chances. McLaren finished in the Top 3 last season, after a debatable 15 points penalty to Racing Point.
“It’s obviously nice for all of us at McLaren that Lewis, who started his career at McLaren and won his first title with McLaren, is respecting and watching the progress we make as a team. But as I have said before, we have a clear picture and a realistic picture of where we are as a team.”
Mercedes and McLaren partnership back in Formula 1
The last time they were partners from 1995 to 2014, McLaren won a constructors title. They also won three drivers title – two for Mika Hakkinen in 1998 and 1999 right before the Ferrari dominance, and one by Hamilton. The partnership is ‘different’ this time though, as Mercedes has a team of its own, unlike last time.
“There is a Mercedes works team in Formula 1 and we are a customer but I am very happy with everything I have seen so far with the integration of the Mercedes power unit. It is going really well and we should be in good shape from the first race onwards.”
Also read: “McLaren will benefit from that”- Andreas Seidl impressed with Mercedes engine
