McLaren had "best start for many, many years" to F1 testing
McLaren boss Andreas Seidl says his team has had its "best start" to testing for many years, as it plans to bring a batch of updates to Barcelona next week.

The Woking-based team, which will face a tough fight for fourth in the constructors’ championship this year, concentrated more on reliability running this week so did not set any headline-grabbing times.
However, Seidl says he is overjoyed with the way the first test went, especially because it did not suffer any major mechanical problems.
“To be honest, we're really, really, really happy with how it went so far, for various reasons,” he explained. “First of all, if you look at the number of laps and the reliability we have shown so far, it is by far the best start for many, many years for McLaren going into a winter test.
“This is simply great reward and a sign for the entire team that all the hard work we have put in the last month in order to make this step is paying off, so I’m very happy about that. In terms of program and test points, I'm also very happy that we could tick off a lot of boxes already of our job list.
“Without having these reliability topics, we simply could go through the run plan every day as planned.”
Although Carlos Sainz’s best lap of the week was 12th-fastest overall, Seidl says that timesheets mattered little for the team so far.
“We focus on ourselves, we don't focus on laptimes and so on,” he said. “We continuously bring parts to the car as well, with late deliveries back from the factory.
“It's great to see this momentum that we are having. As you have seen [on Friday], we tried a new front wing for example in the morning. And so far the car is doing what we expect from it. So it's great to see this correlation. I'm very happy.”
With the focus on understanding the car in week one, Seidl said that there will be a push next week to bring developments that can put McLaren in good stead for the season opener in Australia.
“We have a program lined up with continuously bringing parts to the track, also next week in order to get as much performance out of the car as possible before we head to Melbourne.
“In terms of the performance, so far I think it's still early days. We're happy with what we have seen so far. The car was, as I said before, performing as intended, so we don't have question marks on this.”

Previous article
The changes that helped Mercedes fit DAS
Next article
Red Bull, Honda target no engine penalties in 2020

About this article
Series | Formula 1 |
Teams | McLaren |
Author | Jonathan Noble |
McLaren had "best start for many, many years" to F1 testing
How 2021's midfielders have taken lessons from F1's top teams
Formula 1’s latest Imola adventure turned into an expensive trip for many teams due to several crashes throughout the weekend. While balancing the books is an added factor in 2021 with the cost cap, a few midfield teams have cashed in early on development investments.
Emilia Romagna Grand Prix Driver Ratings
A frantic wet race at Imola produced plenty of excitement and drama as drivers scrabbled for grip. Amid the hatful of mistakes and incidents that ensued, who kept their noses cleanest?
How the Emilia Romagna GP result hinged on three crucial saves
Rain before the start of the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix promised to spice up the action, and the race certainly delivered on that. Max Verstappen got the best launch to win from Lewis Hamilton, but both got away with mistakes that could have had serious consequences
The back-bedroom world-beater that began a new F1 era
The first in a line of world beaters was designed in a back bedroom and then constructed in a shed. STUART CODLING recalls the Tyrrell 001
Why Mercedes isn't confident it's really ahead of Red Bull at Imola
While Mercedes struck back against Red Bull by topping the times at Imola on Friday ahead of the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, the overall picture remains incredibly close. Despite having a possible edge this weekend, the reigning Formula 1 world champion squad is not taking anything for granted...
What Mercedes must do to keep its F1 title challenge on track
Mercedes may find itself leading the drivers' and constructors' standings after Lewis Hamilton's victory in the Bahrain Grand Prix, but it is well aware that it came against the odds, with Red Bull clearly ahead. Here's what the Brackley team must do to avoid its crown slipping .
The double whammy that is defining Vettel’s F1 fate
It's been a tough start to Sebastian Vettel's Aston Martin F1 career, with a lack of pre-season testing mileage followed by an incident-packed Bahrain GP. But two key underlying factors mean a turnaround is no guarantee.
The themes to watch in F1's Imola return
Three weeks is a long time in Formula 1, but in the reshaped start to the 2021 season the teams head to Imola to pick things up after the frenetic Bahrain opener. Here's what to look out for and the developments to follow at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix