Andreas Seidl looking forward to “luxury problems” like Ferrari’s at McLaren

F1 News

23 November 2019 at 16:14
  • Bevan Youl

McLaren team principal Andreas Seidl has said that he is looking forward to dealing with “luxury problems” like Ferrari’s after the Brazilian Grand Prix saw Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel collide with each other.

In the closing stages around Interlagos Leclerc and Vettel were fighting each other on track in an attempt for a chance at a possible race win or podium finish.
 
The battle in turn led to the slightest contact between the two which caused enough damage for both cars to retire from the race, leaving team principal Mattia Binotto to call for a meeting to resolve the issue.
 
But Seidl admits that while it would be a challenge to hand that situation he looks forward to the prospect of his drivers Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris battling each other for podiums.

"It is obviously a challenge to handle two drivers who are at the same level," said Seidl as quoted by Autosport.

"And when it's about fighting for podiums and wins, it's getting even harder.

"At the same time, I'm looking forward to having these luxury problems at some point in the future. Of having two drivers that fight for podiums or wins, and then having the challenge to deal with this as a team."

Thanks to the incidents during the closing laps in Brazil Sainz achieved McLaren’s first podium in over five years for the team after MercedesLewis Hamilton was handed a five-second time penalty after the race.