The McLaren F1 Team regained third place in the Constructors’ Championship thanks to the result of the Belgian Grand Prix, but Team Principal Andreas Seidl was apologetic to the fans who did not get to see a proper race due to the inclement weather conditions.
Heavy rain meant the ‘race’ at Spa-Francorchamps was run for a handful of laps behind the safety car, with Daniel Ricciardo ending fourth for his best result for McLaren and Lando Norris fourteenth.
Seidl says the conditions were impossible for racing to happen, and he praised the fans that stuck around for a race that never really got going.
“What a very strange day! Firstly, the spectators have our commiserations,” said Seidl. “They endured many fruitless hours in the grandstands out around the track, and stuck it out to the bitter end, cheering on the teams and drivers.
“We’re very sorry F1 could not put on a real race today but the right decision was made. It was simply not possible to start safely.”
Seidl says Ricciardo’s fourth place was a reward for an excellent display in Qualifying, although there will also be disappointment from the other side of the garage after Norris’ crash in Q3 left him with a gearbox penalty and outside of the top ten.
And with Ricciardo scoring six points for his fourth place (as half points were awarded due to the race not going to at least seventy-five per cent of its scheduled distance), it moved the team up to third place in the Constructors’ Championship ahead of Scuderia Ferrari by three and a half points.
“Daniel and his team got their reward for a lot of hard work that went into a very good qualifying effort yesterday,” said Seidl. “P4 is his best result for McLaren so far. Special thanks also to Lando’s crew who did a brilliant job to repair his car after that big impact yesterday.
“We leave Spa-Francorchamps back up to P3 in the Constructors’ Championship. In that sense, this has been a positive weekend. We’re looking forward to the Dutch Grand Prix now and hopefully better conditions in which we can give F1’s fans a great race weekend on the new Zandvoort circuit.”