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Seidl commends McLaren for avoiding mid-race switch to dry tyres

Published on 31 Jul 2019 10:29
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By: Fergal Walsh

Andreas Seidl has praised the McLaren team for not being tempted into fitting the dry tyres to Carlos Sainz's car during the midway point of the German Grand Prix.

Most drivers opted to try out the slick compounds at their second pit stop, when the rain had eased off and a dry racing line started to form.

However, those that did so soon found that conditions were still too wet for the dry tyres, which resulted in a series of spins for several of those still running in the race.

MORE: Sainz: Rivals' risky decision denied McLaren podium

Only one McLaren managed to finish the race, as a mechanical issue forced Lando Norris to pull aside after he made his second stop.

"I'm overall very happy with the outcome of the race, scoring ten points, said McLaren team principal Seidl. "Extending our lead over the other midfield teams in a weekend that, in truth, was not easy for us.

"We were struggling a bit here with performance. It was tough, especially with the heat here on Thursday and Friday. The race, it's difficult to recap what happened because so much happened.

"With Lando's race, his starting position after his issue with the battery, he was further compromised as we had to change the MGU-K. But in the race and after the spin of Carlos, he was in front of him, but after the pit stop, he lost engine power."

Sainz endured a difficult race as a spin at Turn 16 saw him drop down the order, but he was able to regain those spots after McLaren decided to stay on the intermediate tyres when everyone else pitted for drys.

"With Carlos, it was great to score a P5. The main story of the race was we got into the race and everything was right, we didn't take massive risks. Unfortunately, he went off which cost him 25 seconds.

"What got him back into the race was when others pitted for dry tyres, the team did a great job to fit new inters, which brought us back into the race."

JuJuHound

Posts: 352

I really like what Brown said couple months back. Sth like they do not regret ending things with Honda even if Honda is winning races now. This relation had to move to an end so McLaren could understand the problems are on their not Honda's side. It helped them to move forward.
I'm so happy for ... [Read more]

1
Jul 31 2019 - 11:22

F1 News Carlos Sainz Jr McLaren

Replies (4)

calle.itw

Posts: 8,527
Overall, McLaren did a pretty good job this race, both the team and the drivers. Shame Norris went off, but all things considered they should be pleased with this showing.
- + 0
- Jul 31 2019 - 10:51
- f1fan0101
  
  Posts: 1,804
  Definitely, it seems like a much different team now
  + 0
  
  Jul 31 2019 - 10:52
- calle.itw
  
  Posts: 8,527
  I'm impressed by how quickly they've changed around. I think the fundament was already there, they just needed a change in management philosophy, and Brown seems to have been the spoonful of sugar to help the medicine go down. Funny enough, it's the same change as we saw when Arai was moved by Honda and Hasegawa (and now Tanabe) took over. Williams should look at these two examples very closely.
  + 0
  
  Jul 31 2019 - 11:02
JuJuHound

Posts: 352
I really like what Brown said couple months back. Sth like they do not regret ending things with Honda even if Honda is winning races now. This relation had to move to an end so McLaren could understand the problems are on their not Honda's side. It helped them to move forward.
I'm so happy for Sainz. Norris was showing maturity progress and still Carlos has twice more points. He is not spectactular like Norris but he is scoring more when it's important - sth like McLaren had with Prost and Senna
- + 1
- Jul 31 2019 - 11:22