Seidl plays down title chances for McLaren in 2022

The Woking team continues its return to the forefront of F1, but Andreas Seidl is cautious and minimizes the chances of a title for 2022, even with these new regulations.

McLaren has gone through all the states in recent years, from a Top Team in the early 2010s to the sinking remarriage with Honda, the period with a Renault block will restore some color, the return to the top step of the podium s t materialized last year with the victory (and the double) at the Italian Grand Prix, even if the pandemic crisis will have had serious consequences on the team’s budget.

McLaren must be patient before aiming for the title

McLaren has experienced great financial difficulties, in particular caused by the pandemic, falling FOM revenues (due to a strongly impacted 2020 calendar), sharply reduced McLaren Automotive sales, but the action plan put in place by Zak Brown allowed the team to stand up.

McLaren wants to diversify its business, a plan that appeals to investors. Although McLaren Racing took 75% of the Schmidt Peterson Motorsports team in IndyCar, MSP Sports Capital, which would be part of The Najafi Companies, a private investment firm, acquired 15%, which is expected to rise to 27% by the end of 2022. UBS O’Connor, a hedge fund subsidiary of the Swiss investment banking giant, also took shares in the Racing part, up to 7%, which will be readjusted to 6% at the end of 2022.

However, team boss Andreas Seidl says McLaren is only now putting the finishing touches on infrastructure improvements which are the next step in the team’s return to the top.

« Our new wind tunnel is under construction and the aim is to complete it by the end of 2022, so it will be completely ready for the development of the 2024 car, » he told formal1.de.

“Only then will we be able to develop our first car with this important innovation. So we are on the right track when it comes to infrastructure,” Seidl added.

Another piece of the puzzle is the ongoing work on a new simulator shareholders would have been invited to participate in so McLaren can go along with similar investments in the top three teams.

« We have to be patient, » Seidl continued. « These things take time » referring to their 2022 title shots.

McLaren will make a joint presentation this Friday February 11 at 8:00 p.m. for its 4 structures in place for 2022, namely the F1 team, the IndyCar team, its new involvement in Extreme E and its Esports team, Shadow Project.