A new stop on the F1 calendar calls for another round for McLaren to perform and seek the perfect path to achieve the so desired final P3 in the constructors’ standings, with just four races to go on the 2021 calendar, and Andreas Seidl knows the fact all too well.

The German talked to the media prior to the first practice session at Interlagos about how the delay of two planeloads of F1 freight earlier in the week affected McLaren and how the team dealt with it to compete flawlessly in time for FP1.

"The main freight was missing so we didn't have the cars and the power units, which meant we could only start rebuilding the cars yesterday in the afternoon. But with the arrival of the freight shortly after lunchtime, we were still in the position to finish pretty much around midnight yesterday."

Seidl expressed he doesn’t expect the incident to have any influence on the team’s weekend performance: “I don’t expect then to have any impact on the rest of the weekend. Obviously not ideal, because you want the best rest for everyone. But again I think it still was a reasonable break.”

“We need to clearly separate from the discussion of triple headers. We’ve had a lot of triple and doubleheaders in the past, since many years ago. We simply need to accept that sometimes these things can happen,” he said regarding the discussion that the delay on planes carrying F1 freight is a result of F1’s dense calendar and demanding traveling schedule.

Following a challenging weekend full of difficult conditions in Mexico City, McLaren arrives at Interlagos with a disadvantage of 13.5 points to Ferrari on the championship standings, and Andreas Seidl extends on the preview of what McLaren expects for this weekend at Brazil, saying the British team is looking forward to bouncing back after scoring just 1 point on the latest F1 calendar event.

“The track characteristics represent some challenges for us, exposing the weaknesses of our car, especially in the low and medium-speed corners, but of course, difficult to predict. The conditions here will play a big role as well: temperatures, the weather conditions, maybe expecting wet sessions.”

“I think we have to focus on ourselves. It’s also clear that after the weekend we had in Mexico with only one point, we want to strike back.”

Finally, the McLaren Team Principal spoke on how AlphaTauri getting a good result and sitting between the competitors to get P3 on the constructors’ championship could be beneficial for either the Woking-based team or the Maranello Scuderia.

“It’s clear if you look at the entire season that AlphaTauri also is track-dependent and so ends in the middle of this fight between us, Ferrari and themselves, especially with Pierre having a very strong season. Maybe they can play a decisive role in this battle we’re in, but again, we need to make sure we consistently score points with our two cars, that’s the only way for us to stay in this battle until Abu Dhabi with Ferrari,” he concluded.