McLaren boss’ verdict on how his team compares to F1 giants Mercedes and Red Bull

Lando Norris test drives the McLaren Elva during development

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Despite their strong showing at the Russian Grand Prix, McLaren remain way behind rivals Red Bull and Mercedes, according to their Team Principal. Lando Norris looked set to cap an amazing weekend for the team with his maiden F1 win, only to end up seventh after rain caused chaos late in the race. Team-mate Daniel Ricciardo finished fourth.

Norris, 21, was left ruing not coming into the pits to change to intermediate tyres, instead trying to nurse his car home on a slippery track before Lewis Hamilton inevitably overtook him to claim his 100th Grand Prix win.

He did eventually pit but by that time it was too late to even salvage a podium place and it tainted a superb weekend for the British driver, after he’d qualified in pole position on Saturday.

McLaren’s performance in Russia came off the back of a one-two finish in Monza two weeks earlier, but team boss Andreas Seidl is remaining grounded, saying his team are inferior “in all areas” to rivals Red Bull and Mercedes.

He said: “Despite what happened at the end of the race, we have a team that is most of the time spot on with the strategy, with tyres and so on during a race, so I am very happy with the progress we are making.

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“But of course, compared to the teams that are ahead of us in the championship, we still have deficits, I would say, in all areas.

“That is why it is important after a weekend like Monza, for example, or after the pole position in Russia, that the first thing you have to do is analyse what you could have done better because there is always something you can do better.

“The moment you are satisfied with what you have achieved is the start of the decline so that is how we approach it.”

Despite the German’s caution, McLaren are undoubtedly making strides after a difficult few years, and having finished third in the Constructors’ standings in 2021, lie in the same place with seven rounds to go this season.

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Indeed, straight after the remarkable qualifying efforts of Norris on Saturday, Seidl had lauded his team’s progress.

“It is clear when I look back at the last two and a half years, we have made big steps forward in terms of the execution and operation as a race team during race weekends,” said the 45-year-old.

“A big part of that is this ability we have in the team, in terms of personnel. We are building this up together, learning from the mistakes that are happening and that is what we see in terms of results.

“I don’t want to say too much, but we have a great run of reliability which is obviously a key to scoring all of these points all the time from the car side.”

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Seidl, and McLaren, now turn their focus to producing another strong showing at the Turkish Grand Prix on Sunday, October 10.

Norris is currently fourth in the individual standings, only 12 points off third-placed Valtteri Bottas, with Ricciardo eighth.

Hamilton’s win in Russia saw him retake the Championship lead from Max Verstappen, but he only holds a two-point advantage after the Dutch driver also benefited from the late adverse weather to finish second.

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