2021 clarity more important than deadline
Andreas Seidl believes it's far more important to get the 2021 overhaul right instead of rushing to hit the deadline.
McLaren principal Andreas Seidl believes clarity on the 2021 overhaul of Formula 1 is more important than hitting the deadline.
30 June was the date when Formula 1’s new technical and commercial rules were meant to be agreed, but with a deal seemingly far from agreed, it’s likely this deadline will be pushed back to October.
However, Seidl, who recently started his role as team principal with McLaren, is fine with this because he believes it’s far more important to get the regulations sorted and to have clarity on them, rather than rush to meet a deadline, even though that would likely favour the top three teams who have better budgets to react to late changes.
“If you’re up against the best ones in this sport like Mercedes or Ferrari it doesn’t matter when they start or we start, we are happy with whatever the outcome is,” Seidl told F1i.com.
“It’s more important to have clarity of what we get, so we can start thinking how it affects the structure of the team, and I can start making up my mind how the team should look like.
“But I’m happy with both ways, if the regs come now or later. It doesn’t change anything.
“In the end it’s like every year, you have to make your mind up how long you develop the current car, when you start with next year’s car, when you start the basic concept of the car the year after. So it’s nothing new.
“In the end for us it is more important to have the rules to know where we have to head to, so that we can also make up our mind in how we want to shape the team in the future, in order to be ready for the 2021 regulations. That is the main topic for us.”
Formula 1 managing director Ross Brawn and his team have a tough task on their hands to come up with a set of regulations which pleases everyone, but Seidl has full confidence in their ability to do this.
“There are very experienced guys working on it on the FOM and FIA side, Ross and all these guys, we have full trust that in the end they know what is important to achieve for 2021 and this is what we are waiting for now,” added the German.
“We have a good dialogue with them now, so it is important that they have this dialogue with us, that all the teams do consulting work for F1 and the FIA, but at the same time with every team having their own agenda it is simply important that in the end they make their conclusions and broadcast the regulations, and we have to go with it.”
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