Seidl calls Baku result “damage control” after McLaren P3 cashed in at Ferrari

After the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, McLaren lost third place in the constructors’ championship, which they have held since Abu Dhabi last year, to Ferrari. But since their rivals in red had one car in pole position and another in P5 at the start of the race – when the McLarens were in P9 and P13 – team boss Andreas Seidl said that he would not be too disappointed with his team’s Baku performance could.

McLaren’s cars were expected to perform well on the performance sensitive Baku City Circuit. But a disappointing qualifying resulted in Daniel Ricciardo crashing in Q2 as Lando Norris made it into Q3 and finished sixth on the grid – only because of a red flag violation that dropped him three places to ninth. At Ferrari, however, Charles Leclerc took his second pole position in a row when Carlos Sainz landed P5 on the grid.

READ MORE: Leclerc says one possible branch on the track is the start of the fall from pole on P4 in Baku. triggered

But since Norris then overcame a bad start to come home in 5th place and right behind Leclerc when Ricciardo took 9th place behind Sainz, Seidl said he was satisfied not to have been exceeded by more than four points, Baku took over the Ferrari McLaren in the season – even if the Scuderia P3 had been among the constructors.

“If you start P9 and P13 and after the first curves you are P12 and P13, then you end P5 and P9 – each only one position behind [of] the Ferraris – it is clearly damage control, ”said Seidl after the race. “In the end we have to finish higher on Saturday, then our Sundays are a lot easier because I think we had the pace today [to run] further ahead.

Seidl wanted to see his drivers higher up on the grid to improve their luck on race day

“But as soon as you were on the train today, there isn’t much you can do,” added Seidl. “Another good job by the drivers and team to keep your head calm in a tricky race. We are therefore very happy that we only lost four points to Ferrari today, which was a good result after a disappointing Saturday. “

The red flag at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix – caused by Max Verstappen’s fall in the pit lane – ensured an exciting two-lap finale in which Norris climbed from seventh place on the grid to fifth place while standing. But given Norris’ strong rebound before the race had a red flag – as Leclerc had reversed the order – Seidl suggested that McLaren might have been able to score even more points if the race had taken its course instead of being stopped …

READ MORE: Norris is happy to recover to P5 at the Azerbaijan GP after the “annoying” opening lap

“I think if it had been a normal race, it would be clear that Mercedes and Red Bull were gone,” said Seidl. “But I think if it had been a full-throttle race, the Ferrari’s tire degradation could have been very interesting.

“It’s so hard to say what would have been possible in a normal race and also hard to say what would have happened if we’d ended up where we should have been in terms of car performance yesterday in qualifying. But in the end it doesn’t count; we have to bring it together on Saturday and Sunday and for that you have to work. Then as a team you get the results you deserve, and that’s our focus. “

Seidl was pleased that McLaren was moving closer to the front runners in terms of speed

Seidl, meanwhile, has refused to speculate on how McLaren might fare against Ferrari when F1 returns to the more “normal” confines of Circuit Paul Ricard for the French Grand Prix from June 18-20. But he showed his joy at McLaren after getting closer to the pace of Mercedes and Red Bull in Baku – and Seidl was aiming for more fights with these two top teams in the near future.

READ MORE: Ricciardo Says Triple Header Will Accelerate Progress With McLaren After Scoring Points In Baku

“It is difficult to draw conclusions about the pecking order on certain tracks from earlier races of the season,” said Seidl when asked whether McLaren, in his opinion, would be more at the pace of Ferrari in Paul Ricard.

“So I think it’s just hard to tell. In general, apart from our last places in qualifying yesterday, it was again positive that we definitely got much closer to the Mercedes and Red Bulls in front of us in terms of pace, which is encouraging.

“These are the steps we have to take as a team,” he concluded. “We have to take these steps to fight these teams again in the future.”

McLaren are now two points behind Ferrari in the constructors’ championship, with Scuderia now occupying the highest position in the championship since the 70th anniversary Grand Prix last year.