F1 News
Austria 'on paper suits our car' says McLaren team principal Seidl
- Cameron Smith
McLaren team principal Andreas Seidl believes that the Austrian circuit "should suit our car" after he saw Daniel Ricciardo end FP2 in second place, and his teammate Lando Norris finishing in seventh. It was a good turnaround from the morning session, and shows that the Woking-based team wil be right in the fight in qualifying.
Speaking to SkySports, Seidl said: "It's only Free Practice but I think we have had two great sessions. Both drivers were not fully happy with the balance of the car in the first session, so the team worked hard together with the drivers in the break and we could see straight away from the first run onwards that we could make a step and also then doing a hot lap on the sfot tyres I think everything worked pretty well.
"On paper it [Red Bull Ring] should suit our car and the drivers they have had good results around here."
Lando Norris achieved his first ever Formula 1 podium at this track back in 2020, and the track looks ideally set-up for the Austrian circuit once more. Norris' teammate Ricciardo was just 0.336 seconds behind Max Verstappen in first, so McLaren will be hoping to maintain this speed tomorrow.
Bottas issue
Valtteri Bottas suffered a spin in the pit lane during FP2, a spin that almost took him straight into the McLaren pit crew. Speaking about the incident, Seidl said: "Obviously, a scary moment but in the end, it can happen. So, all we could do is help Valtteri find the right direction again by pushing him backwards and forwards.
"I don't think that is something you need to talk to your drivers about. They know about the pitlane and the people that is in the pitlane. Always safety first and take it cautiously when you leave the pits especially on new hard tyres."
With Bottas down in 12th, Seidl may be hopeful his drivers can qualify quicker than the Mercedes driver.