Last year was McLaren’s best in seven years, the British team finishing fourth in the constructors’ championship with their first podiu...
Last year was McLaren’s best in seven years, the British team finishing fourth in the constructors’ championship with their first podium – courtesy of Carlos Sainz – since the season-opening 2014 Australian Grand Prix. The momentum was with them and came after Brown and Seidl had put a new leadership structure in place and reshuffled the organization and infrastructure.
Hopes were high that in 2020 they could kick on from their position as head of the midfield after a decent showing in testing, but then the coronavirus halted that momentum. And Seidl concedes it will have an impact on their recovery program, as they bid to become a title-contending team once more.
“The important thing at the moment is to get through this crisis, survive it as a team, as Formula 1, and then we have a clear plan in place of what we have to do in the next months and years in order to move up the grid again,” says Seidl. “It’s clear with the shift of regulations for one year, and this long shutdown now, it will cause some delays in our recovery program, but it’s too early to say what the consequences will be in detail.”
Earlier this month, F1 motorsports boss Ross Brawn said that while times were tough currently, he hoped F1 could emerge from the coronavirus crisis on a stronger and more sustainable footing when racing gets going again. As part of that, he hoped teams could come to an agreement to reduce the budget cap.
Initially set at $175m, teams have recently already agreed to reduce that to $150m. But there are calls from some for the number to come down further given the huge negative impact the current crisis is having on a Formula 1 team’s finances. McLaren has pitched a figure of £100m. Ferrari has said that any further discussions would need to take into account the different structures of teams.
