See how Andreas Seidl’s departure from the McLaren F1 project to become CEO of future Audi Works F1 Sauber team will affect the future of McLaren driver Lando Norris.
The importance of Andreas Seidl’s work at McLaren cannot be underestimated. Seidl helped bounce back from the 2015-18 downturn and establish himself as a favorite in midfield.
Andreas Seidl, together with CEO Zak Brown, oversaw the restructuring and significant personnel changes, with McLaren taking two fourth places and one third place between 2019 and 2021, almost a decade of Grand Prix winning for the first time. This was all part of a careful plan to get back to the front of the grid.
The earlier-than-expected move of Andreas Seidl to Sauber, which is preparing for Audi’s entry into F1 in 2026, would be seen as a major blow to McLaren’s ambitions.
Andreas Seidl will be replaced by Andrea Stella, McLaren’s executive director of racing from 2019, with immediate effect.
McLaren Racing chief executive Zak Brown has revealed that Andrea Stella will always be the team’s “first choice” to succeed Andreas Seidl, calling the Italian “extremely talented and experienced. Complex and respected”, but the move to team principal it will be new territory.
McLaren are confident Andrea Stella can continue to build on the solid foundation laid by Andreas Seidl and that the team will “not be shaken” after an encouraging return.
Lando Norris has stressed how important it is for him to have ‘confidence’ in McLaren’s F1 project. Andreas Seidl was Lando Norris’ first boss in F1 and the driving force behind his recent progress.
In February this year, Lando Norris signed a long-term deal to stay with McLaren until the end of 2025. However, some say it may have been a premature decision given the team’s situation.
When Lando Norris agreed to the new terms, Andreas Seidl said his signing was “an important message from us that we can deliver over the next four years”.
Ten months later, however, the lure of another exciting F1 project and the chance to return to the Volkswagen Group set Andreas Seidl on a new path.
What does this say about Andreas Seidl’s confidence in McLaren? And could it lead to uncertainty from Lando Norris?
Lando Norris responded to the news with a tweet, stating that working with Andreas Seidl was “mega”.
Lando Norris recently revealed that he spoke to several other teams, most notably Red Bull, before signing a new contract with McLaren.
Lando Norris, 23, is one of F1’s most promising drivers, finishing 7th in the 2022 drivers’ standings behind Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes as ‘better than the rest’. His reputation continues to skyrocket due to his performances.
Red Bull and others are understandably interested and McLaren admit they tried to avoid this by retaining Lando Norris.
However, McLaren lost to the Alpine F1 team in 2022 in the constructors’ battle for fourth place, and Lando Norris could only manage one podium finish in a car which he said “doesn’t suit him”.
“Considering what happened before this season, would we have achieved what we were supposed to do as McLaren in 2022? Honestly, we haven’t,” Lando Norris told Sky.
“If you want to do well, if you want to be champion one day, if you want to win races, you can’t be happy with the results this season, but you can be happy with the progress you’ve made, so far.”
“A lot of things are working right – the pit stop mechanics, the strategy, the work ethic across the team. We just need a slightly better car.”
2023 will be an important year for McLaren to convince Lando Norris that it is on track to achieve its goals, especially following the departure of Andreas Seidl.
McLaren has time to get Lando Norris on its side, but not much. We would like to wait and see if the cars of F1 2024 and 2025 pay off for their vaunted infrastructure projects (new wind tunnel and simulator).
Should Lando Norris’ confidence start to erode, or he becomes frustrated waiting to join the fight at the front of the grid, it is not out of the question that he could leave McLaren.
McLaren are naturally trying to prove they are the right team for Lando Norris and Andrea, who has extensive experience working with the likes of Michael Schumacher, Kimi Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso.・I hope the relationship with Stella strengthens.
On the other hand, Andreas Seidl is a great weapon for Audi. As CEO of Sauber, he is supposed to oversee Audi’s F1 projects (cars, engines, drivers, etc). And then there’s the relationship he’s built with Lando Norris, someone who understands his way of thinking about him, who has credibility and knows how good Audi’s progress is behind the scenes.
Sauber are a midfield team and it remains to be seen whether Audi’s F1 engine will be competitive in 2026. However, in BMW’s factory team era, it has battled for the top and Audi’s status as a true factory F1 team may have more potential than McLaren.
Only time will tell if Andres Seidl’s quick exit will bring bad news to McLaren’s hopes of keeping arguably the most desirable driver on the F1 grid.
Category: F1 / Terra Norris / mclaren / Sauber / Audi
