McLaren boss Andreas Seidl said it would be difficult to keep Alpine within arm’s reach, but his team is in a position to fight.
The war to finish 2022 as the “best of the rest” P4 in the constructors’ championship came down to two teams, those of Alpine and McLaren.
It looked like Alpine was tightening its grip there ahead of the Singapore Grand Prix, only for the French manufacturer to go through a double abandonment while McLaren finished P4 and P5 to get ahead of them.
Alpine, however, fought back in Japan, pulling McLaren out of P4 and restoring a 13-point buffer in the Woking team with 4 laps to go.
Seidl believes McLaren now has a big challenge if they need to retire ahead of Alpine and stay there, but they are in a position for the challenge.
“Now it’s vital that we focus on ourselves, to make sure we have blank weekends, to extract in every consultation the maximum that we have right now in our car,” Seidl was quoted as saying by Motorsport. com.
“Only then will we have the possibility to stay in the war with a very strong Alpine team. We have to recognize that they have done a wonderful job so far this season. It will be very difficult for us to stay in this war until the end. “last circular in Abu Dhabi, but that’s why we’re here.
“Reliability will also play a role in the last few races. But I still think we have a smart car, a smart team, two strong drivers and if we come together, I’m sure we can stay in this war until the last lap. “.
Of course, there’s a lot more at stake than pride, as either group chases P4, such as extra prizes and wind tunnel time, but 2023 is a key season for both groups.
When the new regulations for 2022 were implemented, with the ambition to adjust the package, Alpine and McLaren were two groups temporarily selected as contenders to leave the middle group and start fighting at the front.
Neither team has achieved this yet, and only McLaren has had a podium finish this season thanks to Lando Norris at Imola.
Alpine and McLaren are not content to remain in midfield, so they make transparent progress in 2023 to show they are on track to fight for podiums regularly and race wins as well.
If they claim too much of P4 this season, Alpine, in particular, has worked hard, they may simply stagnate or even take a step back next season.
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