McLaren downplays talk it can close Mercedes gap soon
McLaren boss Andreas Seidl thinks it is too early for his team to challenge Mercedes and Red Bull in 2021, despite grabbing third place in the Formula 1 constructors’ championship.

The Woking-based outfit pipped rival Racing Point for the best-of-the-rest slot behind the top two teams in the F1 season finale in Abu Dhabi last weekend.
The result, coming off the back of a £185 million new investment deal with an American consortium, comes amid suggestions that McLaren could make a big step forward as it switches to Mercedes engines next season.
But Seidl is cautious about expecting too much from McLaren next year, as he says the team must accept the two outfits ahead of it are still a step clear.
“I think we need to stay realistic,” he said. “Despite the good result we have this weekend and, despite the great outcome for us in the championship side, with P3, I think we know exactly where we are. There's still a huge gap to the cars in front, especially the Mercedes car.”
Read Also:
Seidl does take huge encouragement from the progress that McLaren was able to make with its MCL35 this year, as well as the way in which it executed race weekends and dealt with an aggressive update strategy.
However, with McLaren openly admitting that it needs to improve its wind tunnel, simulation facilities and simulator, Seidl thinks it will take a few years before it can hope to get on terms with teams like Mercedes.
“I think the most important thing is to first of all see that the team this year, under the leadership of James Key, has produced a very competitive car,” he explained. “It is a step forward compared to last year.
“It was great to see also that despite all these challenges in the pandemic, that the team kept pushing flat out back home in engineering, and in production, to continuously bring updates to the track, which in the end, kept improving the performance of the car.
“And of course it's a great finish to the season, knowing that at this track, at this specific event, we had the third fastest car.
“But still, we know what the gap to Mercedes is. It is not something we will close from one year to the next year.
“We still know that we have a lot of deficits within the team in terms of organisation, in terms of infrastructure, which we need to close first.
“But again, we have a clear plan of how we want to reduce these deficits. It will take time. But I'm confident that if we do the right things on the team side, we can close these gaps in some years.”
Related video

Previous article
Why engine caution wasn't the biggest factor in Mercedes defeat
Next article
Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - Driver ratings

About this article
Series | Formula 1 |
Event | Abu Dhabi GP |
Teams | Mercedes , McLaren |
Author | Jonathan Noble |
McLaren downplays talk it can close Mercedes gap soon
Why Verstappen isn't interested in the hype game
In a pre-season where Red Bull has been unusually quiet, Max Verstappen has also been guarded about the team's fortunes in 2021. Even after trying the RB16B for the first time at Silverstone, the Dutchman was careful to manage expectations
The pros and cons of F1's 2021 rule changes
In the strategy for grand prix racing's future, 2021 represents a significant step towards the goal of closer racing and a more level playing field. That's the theory behind the latest raft of changes, but will they have the desired effect?
What Red Bull is trying to hide with its RB16B launch
Red Bull made no secret of the fact its 2021 F1 car is an evolution of its predecessor, but in keeping the same foundations while hiding some tightly-guarded updates with its RB16B, the team aims to avoid suffering the same pitfalls of previous years
How Albon plans to fight his way out of Red Bull limbo
Alex Albon has faced the media for the first time since he lost his Red Bull drive at the end of 2020 and dropped out of a Formula 1 race seat altogether. He has a history of bouncing back from setbacks, so here's what he must do to rise again
Ranked! Carlin's greatest F1 graduates
Carlin has helped guide enough drivers to Formula 1 to fill out an entire grid, plus a handful of reserves, to create a remarkable alumni list. With Yuki Tsunoda set to join that group, Motorsport.com has ranked its graduates to grace the grand prix scene...
Why Alfa's 2021 launch says more about its 2022 plans
Alfa Romeo launched its C41 with a revised front nose, but there's little to suggest it will surge up the leaderboard in 2021. As the team frankly admits, it's putting its eggs in the basket labelled 2022 and hoping to hold the eighth place it earned last year
Why Gasly’s AlphaTauri haven is a blessing and a curse
Red Bull opted not to re-sign Pierre Gasly even before it decided to drop Alex Albon and so the Frenchman's Formula 1 journey will continue at AlphaTauri. This has positive and negative connotations for one of last season's star performers.
Eight things Red Bull must do to beat Mercedes in 2021
After seven years of defeat at the hands of Mercedes, Red Bull is as hungry as ever to secure a fifth world championship. But there are key challenges it must overcome in 2021 to switch from challenger to conqueror