The first rounds of the 2022 championship have provided F1 fans with an increasing number of overtakes and a much levelled field, as eight different teams have been in the points after the two races, three of which on the podium in spite of Ferrari's extremely impressive comeback.

McLaren's Team Principal Andreas Seidl agrees that the new regulations have, so far, proved to be a great introduction as they have improved the level of racing and on-track battles the drivers can have.

"Definitely. Independent of our current situation, I guess, big, big winner of these first two races are F1 fans and is Formula 1, because with what we have seen so far on track these first two races is really exciting racing, very close racing, where the cars can full on several laps very close without destroying the tyres, and actually having a go at each other not just once.

Although the British team hasn't had a good start, with only Lando Norris scoring McLaren's points of 2022 at Jeddah after Daniel Ricciardo's engine failure, Seidl still believes the novelties implemented by F1 have improved the sport, and hopes that his team can be up to speed soon.

"I think that's a very good confirmation, except it's still early days but it's a further confirmation that everything that F1 and FIA asked to put in place, together with the teams, is very promising and I think that we are again set for a very exciting season."

"It will be even more exciting for us once we are back in these battles to go up."

Ricciardo's home race will be up next in Australia. It's the first time that the championship will return in the country after the pandemic, and especially to a renovated track as Albert Park underwent a layout restyle to make overtakes easier.

Seidl isn't sure how the McL36 will perform on a rather different track to Jeddah and Bahrain, but warns not to expect dramatic improvements already:

"I'll speak about it on Thursday," he replied with a laugh.

“I think for right now, follow the analysis the team after these two weekends, understanding more the current strengths and weaknesses of the car. We need to see also which improvements we can make already before Melbourne, at the same time, I don’t expect miracles there."

“We simply need a bit more time. I guess it’s difficult to predict at the moment, so give me a bit more time.”

The Monza 2021 winner is yet to score in 2022, as while he was in the top ten at Jeddah, his engine died and was forced to retire in the middle of race. Seidl is extremely sorry for him, especially since he had been showing a great pace.

"I can only apologise to Daniel as we didn't give him the car that he deserves to have because on his side I think it was a strong weekend. With the strategy we chose with him, to offset him a bit from everyone else after he was stuck in the early stint, I think it would have paid off."

"He could have finished right where Lando finished," he added.

"I think that in the end the pace was quite similar between both of our cars today, Lando simply had a bit of tyre advantage since we stopped him a bit later."