Ricciardo struggles not affecting McLaren's car development - Seidl

McLaren team principal Andreas Seidl says Daniel Ricciardo’s struggles this season have not had an impact on the team’s development because the Australian's feedback is still consistent with that of teammate Lando Norris.

Ricciardo has had a tough first part of 2022, scoring points on just four occasions and struggling to match Norris at the majority of venues. Despite a steep development curve under new regulations, Seidl said the overall performance from Ricciardo is less important with regard to developing upgrades as long as his feedback is constructive.

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“I would say the development of a Formula 1 car is always driven by a combination of data and data analysis, but also driver feedback, in order to understand the limitation for a driver regarding going faster,” Seidl said. “In terms of the feedback we are getting from both of our guys, Lando and Daniel, it’s not so much different regarding the limitations they feel from our car. I wouldn’t say that this is an issue."

Now that all of the teams know where the budget cap has been set due to inflation adjustments, that feedback could still lead to more new parts after the summer break despite the team having introduced an update in France.

“We just need to decide now – after also having clarity on the cost cap side – how the rest of the season looks like, but it was always the plan to have another upgrade (before the summer break)," Seidl said.

“If you look at the lead times of such parts, it was always part of the development plan we had in place to bring an upgrade. It was more making sure that when we actually committed to the package, do we get enough out of it compared to the money we have to spend? That’s why we chose (France) in terms of timing compared to some teams that brought some parts earlier.

“The cost cap decision, we know where we are now in terms of the cost cap at the end of the year, so we know now what we have to work with. Now we will make our decisions how the rest of the year will look and when we switch completely to next year’s car.”