McLaren’s Andreas Seidl credits his drivers Lando Norris and Carlos Sainz with making few mistakes, and therefore costing the team very little points.
The two F1 drivers were widely praised for their consistency, and considered important to the team’s operationally flawless 2020 season, during which they maximised results from a car ostensibly less competitive than those of their close adversaries.
Barring a poor Russian Grand Prix for the pair of them, one would be hard pressed to find an example of underperformance from Norris and Sainz, and between them minimal points were lost throughout the season – at least not by fault of the drivers.
Siedl noted Norris’ remarkable progression as another factor in the team’s remarkable season, at the end of which they clinched an impressive P3 in the title fight. It was so that McLaren lost more points due to mechanical issues rather than a driver error.
“It is clear that the if you look at the point standings at the end of last year and this year, if you look at how the seasons went the last two years compared to our competitors also, it is clear that one big asset we had the last two years is the driver line-up we had,” Sield said to media including F1, Racefans.net, Motorsport Network and more.
“If you see how many times the drivers manage with a competitive car to go into the Q3 sessions this year, it’s clear proof that these two guys are all special, and Carlos in the end has some ome experience already and made good steps forward with us during these two years with us. As impressive is obviously the development of Lando [Norris].
“He was a rookie last year, he had a very good rookie season. But he clearly made the next step as a driver and as a person going into his second year, and if you see how Lando was pulling off the races this year, it’s simply impressive, considering it’s only the second year in Formula One.
“And we owe them a lot with what they have done for us,” Seidl said, also looking to 2021 with optimism that their new driver pairing of Daniel Ricciardo and Lando Norris will yield similar success. Ricciardo fills the role of Sainz, who leaves for Ferrari next year.
“[I am] simply looking forward now to get Daniel on board next year. We know he’s a he’s a great driver, and a great reference for us with having won races already in the past with the right material. He will be a great reference also for Lando.
“And I’m very confident that also next year we will have again a very strong driver line-up, which is again, one of the key ingredients we need in order to make the next steps as a team,” Seidl said in conclusion.
Looking at the stats, Sainz ended up with 105 points, while Norris scored 97, with a difference of eight. The McLaren pair were the closest to each other in the 2020 standings, even in qualifying, where the difference was just of one race in the Brit’s favour.
Here’s Andreas Seidl on integration of Daniel Ricciardo
Here’s our tier system of driver performance
Here’s the drivers’ Top 10 of F1 2020
Here’s F1 stats difference from 2019 to 2020
Here’s Carlos Sainz, Lando Norris’ time together
Here’s photos of Carlos Sainz at Maranello