McLaren and Alpine have had a season-long battle to finish as the best midfield side this year, with momentum swinging back and forth in recent races.
McLaren’s run to fourth and fifth in Singapore took it back to P4 in the constructors’ championship, only for Alpine to counterattack last Sunday at Suzuka as Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso finished fourth and seventh respectively.
That gave Alpine a 13-point advantage with four races remaining, but Seidl thought it would be difficult for McLaren to stay in contention until Abu Dhabi.
“It’s important now for us to really focus on ourselves, to make sure that we run clean weekends, to extract from every session the maximum that we have in our car right now,” Seidl said. .
“Only then will we have a chance to stay in the fight with a very strong alpine team.
“We have to recognize that they have done a great job so far this season. It will be very difficult for us to stay in this battle until the last round in Abu Dhabi, but that is what we are here for. “
McLaren are the only team outside the top three of Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes to have a podium finish this season, courtesy of Lando Norris at Imola in April.
Norris has previously spoken of his surprise that McLaren was able to stay in the fight with Alpine for so long, admitting the McLaren MCL36 car was difficult to drive.
Andreas Seidl, Team Principal, McLaren, Daniel Ricciardo, McLaren, Lando Norris, McLaren MCL36
Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images
McLaren sought to take a step forward by bringing a new update package to the Singapore Grand Prix earlier this month, while Alpine also kicked off a new floor as the development race continued.
Seidl felt that McLaren should try to focus on its own performance and process instead of dwelling on Alpine, saying: “Reliability will also play a big part in the final races now.
“But still I think we have a good car, we have a good team, we have two strong drivers, and if we pull ourselves together I’m sure we can stay in this battle until the last lap.”
Speaking ahead of Alpine’s double at Suzuka, Alonso said he believed the battle would remain close until the season finale in Abu Dhabi, expecting their form to waver.
“There will be weekends where we can score a bit more points than them, other weekends we will score less,” Alonso said.
“I think Singapore stood out because it was a big loss of points there. But I think it’s going to be very, very close until Abu Dhabi.”
McLaren and Alpine have had a season-long battle to finish as the best midfield side this year, with momentum swinging back and forth in recent races.
McLaren’s run to fourth and fifth in Singapore took it back to P4 in the constructors’ championship, only for Alpine to counterattack last Sunday at Suzuka as Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso finished fourth and seventh respectively.
That gave Alpine a 13-point advantage with four races remaining, but Seidl thought it would be difficult for McLaren to stay in contention until Abu Dhabi.
“It’s important now for us to really focus on ourselves, to make sure that we run clean weekends, to extract from every session the maximum that we have in our car right now,” Seidl said. .
“Only then will we have a chance to stay in the fight with a very strong alpine team.
“We have to recognize that they have done a great job so far this season. It will be very difficult for us to stay in this battle until the last round in Abu Dhabi, but that is what we are here for. “
McLaren are the only team outside the top three of Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes to have a podium finish this season, courtesy of Lando Norris at Imola in April.
Norris has previously spoken of his surprise that McLaren was able to stay in the fight with Alpine for so long, admitting the McLaren MCL36 car was difficult to drive.
Andreas Seidl, Team Principal, McLaren, Daniel Ricciardo, McLaren, Lando Norris, McLaren MCL36
Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images
McLaren sought to take a step forward by bringing a new update package to the Singapore Grand Prix earlier this month, while Alpine also kicked off a new floor as the development race continued.
Seidl felt that McLaren should try to focus on its own performance and process instead of dwelling on Alpine, saying: “Reliability will also play a big part in the final races now.
“But still I think we have a good car, we have a good team, we have two strong drivers, and if we pull ourselves together I’m sure we can stay in this battle until the last lap.”
Speaking ahead of Alpine’s double at Suzuka, Alonso said he believed the battle would remain close until the season finale in Abu Dhabi, expecting their form to waver.
“There will be weekends where we can score a bit more points than them, other weekends we will score less,” Alonso said.
“I think Singapore stood out because it was a big loss of points there. But I think it’s going to be very, very close until Abu Dhabi.”