Seidl: Corona crisis a wake up call for Formula 1

Standstill in Formula 1. Most teams have registered short-time work, including McLaren. Team principal Andreas Seidl (44) is still on duty, planning the future and currently leading the traditional British team from the home office in Pfaffenhofen.

At a video conference with the German press, including F1-Insider.com, the Bavarian was very relaxed in his Bayern jersey today. “Why? Because I’m a fan of Bayern Munich!”

But even in times of Corona, Seidl cannot distract himself with football. The problems that COVID-19 also poses in Formula 1 also concern the German team boss.

The Bavarian: “If you have to send people into short-time work and have to explain to the workforce that the money will be cut, it is clearly the most difficult thing I have had to do in my 20 years of motorsport.”

Nevertheless, he remains optimistic. “I assume that we will survive the crisis. Our financial situation is tense, but with all the measures we’ve taken, including short-time work and cut wages, we’re well positioned.”

Still Formula 1 now must use the time to reposition itself: “We basically ignore a lot in our bubble what happens outside”, Seidl says. “We also ignored for a long time that we lose money by participating in F1 every year. I hope that this crisis is a final wake-up call, that we urgently need to change something. Formula 1 must be healthier and more sustainable for all participants”, adds Seidl. “The understanding is there for all teams, including the big ones, that we are in a crisis that can endanger the existence of some teams and even the whole of Formula One.”

So you have to take the chance now to lower the budget limit further, he concludes. “We would agree to go towards the 100 million budget limit.”

In the meantime Seidl sees no need for a change in the sport itself: “Basically the show and the sport worked last year. With the new regulations we are on the right track to offer a better show. The biggest problem remains the severity between the three big teams and the rest.”

When Formula 1 can drive again, it is still completely unclear for the German. But he knows: “We have to be very, very careful before we hit our circus again.” It is a matter of not using any medical capacities, for example tests for the Sars-CoV-2 virus, which are more necessary elsewhere.

Nevertheless, it is important for McLaren “that not only eight races take place, but as many races as possible to generate income for us as a team.” That is why he also hopes that fans are “extremely hungry” for the comeback of sporting events.

By the way, Seidl is currently reading biographies of athletes and former racing drivers such as Johnny Herbert and Damon Hill. And he looks at the extension of the 2014 Soccer World Cup finals when Germany became world champion: “For me, it is everything that I love about sport. Fighting spirit, team spirit, total exhaustion and in the end incredible feelings of happiness.”