“Our idea was to keep Esteban Ocon in check,” Andreas Seidl explains team orders given to Daniel Ricciardo and Lando Norris
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Daniel Ricciardo and Lando Norris
It was much improved weekend for Andreas Seidl and also Daniel Ricciardo as he finished ahead of his team mate, Lando Norris, for the first time in the season. There has been a lot of speculations around the Australian’s future after what has been a disappointing start to the season. One person who wasn’t have been happy with the overall result was Lando Norris, who was told to hold positions to allow Daniel to finish ahead of him.
It was race of two halves for both the drivers. McLaren opted for two different tyre strategies to cover up all bases during the race. Daniel Ricciardo was given a set of hard tyres which worked pretty well for him in the early stage of the race. He was the faster of the two drives and wanted to have a go at Lando Norris but was asked to hold position. This was done because both were on different strategies.
Lando Norris was given a new set of medium which he decided to change in Lap 20 as it was clear that hard tyres were the way to deal with the scorching heat and fast track. Unfortunately, Daniel Ricciardo came out ahead of him out of the pits on Lap 33 because of the prolonged Virtual safety car. Now with both the McLarens sandwiched between two Alpines, McLaren thought it’s best for both Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo to hold positions, which had left Lando disappointed.
Andreas Seidl said that it was important for Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo to hold station for them to keep Esteban Ocon at bay
But, Andreas Seidl has come out to explain as to why McLaren took such a call. In the post race interview, McLaren’s Team Principal said, “Our idea was with holding position for both cars behind Fernando, that we make sure by that we keep Ocon in check, which we did.”
“Our drivers are free to race, and we always try to provide for both drivers the same opportunities to do well, because that’s our responsibility.“
“But if we are on different strategies and so on, obviously, you need to make sure as a team that you maximise the outcome for the team,” as reported by motorsport.
With McLaren struggling to secure some valuable points, it’s easier to understand the decision of the team. Also, it was important for Daniel Ricciardo to gain some confidence and this points finish would have given a world of confidence.
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Shubham Bajpai
(776 Articles Published)