McLaren boss Andreas Seidl admits that the Miami Grand Prix weekend proved to be a "reality check" for the team in regards to their level of performance. After struggling at the first event of the 2022 season in Bahrain, the Woking-based squad looked to be improving in subsequent races. Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo brought home a double points finish in Australia, whilst Norris secured the outfit's first podium of the campaign at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. However, just two weeks later in Miami, McLaren seemed to be having a tougher time, and the race was one to forget for both drivers. Norris retired following a collision with Pierre Gasly on Lap 41 of 57, and Ricciardo ended the day in 13th, meaning that the team came away with no points.
Seidl reflects on disappointing weekend for McLaren
Seidl believes that McLaren's stronger outings at Melbourne and Imola may have been track and temperature-specific, and also thinks that the team's performance at the Miami International Autodrome brought them back down to earth somewhat. "We didn't have the performance that we had at the previous two race weekends," Seidl told media, including RacingNews365.com . "It was all a reality check also [in terms of] where we are. This performance was clearly more in line with what we have seen in Bahrain, or also in Jeddah." With Norris and Ricciardo lining up on the grid in P8 and P14 respectively, Seidl had expected that there may be the possibility of fighting for only minor points, given the faster pace of some of their rivals. "We knew, going into this race today, that there was only a chance to fight for, let's say, a couple of points," he explained. "Because [the] Mercedes cars [and Valtteri] Bottas [were] clearly quicker. But, unfortunately, we simply didn't maximise everything [in the race]."
Norris incident impacted chance for points
Despite the team's struggles in Miami, Seidl thinks that Norris had the potential to score some points had it not been for his clash with Gasly. "We scored zero points, which is obviously disappointing," the Team Principal added. "I think Lando was still in a position [to score points], because we played the long game with stopping late and then have a benefit in the end on the Hard tyres. "I think we were still in a position to score points, one or two, but, unfortunately, the racing incident took away any chances." Even though they came away from the weekend with no points, McLaren remain fourth in the Constructors' Championship, with their closest rivals being Alfa Romeo in fifth.
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