Seidl says McLaren must not 'see things that aren't there'

McLaren team boss Andreas Seidl is keeping it real, acknowledging his team's progress in Austria but also the fact that it will be a tall order to repeat last weekend's "sensational" performances at upcoming venues.

McLaren reaped big dividends from F1's second round of racing at the Red Bull Ring, with Lando Norris qualifying on the front row and finishing third while Daniel Ricciardo executed an impressive recovery drive to bag P7 at the checkered flag.

"Sensational race weekend in the end from the team, from Lando, and a sensational recovery also today from Daniel," was how Seidl summed his outfit's Austrian Grand Prix.

"After a strong race here last week, it was great to see that we could increase our performance again and be in a position to battle the top cars with Lando – [but] I’m just as happy with Daniel’s performance.

"A very controlled race from his side with a lot of pressure from behind throughout, but he was managing his tyres, he was managing the gaps, and I'm very happy.

"Hopefully that gives him now additional energy again in the next two weeks in order to make the next step then in Silverstone."

Looking ahead, Seidl is taking a cautious stance as the German believes his team owed its two strong weekends in the hills of Styria in large part to a track that was tailored for McLaren's MCL35M.

"I think we need to be realistic, it was a track that suits our car," insisted Seidl.

"What was good to see is that I think, compared to last weekend, with the developments and with the fine-tuning we did with the set-up as well, we definitely made a step forward in terms of performance, both in qualifying and in the race.

"That allowed us to be in a position to battle some of the top cars.

"But I don’t know exactly which issues for example Mercedes had or Lewis had, which gave us a chance to then score a podium purely down to our own performance, which is great."

• Read also: Norris appreciative of Hamilton's 'such a great driver' praise

But Seidl insists on keeping his team anchored in reality as he is all too aware of McLaren's deficits relative to its rivals.

"There’s no point to see things that aren’t there," he said.

"We know exactly where we stand as a team, we know what the deficit is. We know what the deficit also still is at the team’s side in terms of infrastructure and so on. So it’s not a surprise that we are where we are.

"We are on a journey. We have a clear plan of how we want to reduce this deficit and that takes some years, but the good thing is we make steps.

"We’re ambitious, but there is no magic and I simply think it’s always good to have a sense of realism, and not get carried away with results like Austria, which are great and give good energy to the team.

"But it doesn’t change the picture, the realistic picture we have in terms of where we are."

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