ANDREAS SEIDL
THE MAN TO FIX MCLAREN
The man head-hunted from Porsche to fix Mclaren
Mclaren’s new team principal always had a single-minded ambition to work in Formula 1. Head-hunted by Mclaren from Porsche, he’s now back in F1 to restore this title-winning team to its former glory
Drive a couple of hours north west of the Red Bull Ring, away from the Styrian mountains into the rural landscape of Upper Austria, and you quickly hit the valley of the river Inn. With its source high up in the Alps, the river flows across Bavaria through some notable towns, including Innsbruck (meaning bridge over the Inn), and forms the natural border between Germany and Austria. When the river reaches the rolling countryside near the city of Passau, it becomes the largest tributary of the Danube before flowing into the Black Sea. This was the rural backdrop – and home – in the early 1990s for one current Formula 1 team principal. Mclaren’s new boss Andreas Seidl was just 16 when his countryman Michael Schumacher was bursting onto the F1 scene, which inspired in Seidl a single-minded desire to work in grand prix racing. Sitting in the Mclaren motorhome in the Austrian Grand Prix paddock in Spielberg, just over 100 miles from where he grew up in Passau, Seidl, now 43, is recounting the moment Schumacher lit the fire inside him to make his own career in Formula 1.
“I was still at school but, thanks to Michael, my interest developed in 1992 and I was soon trying to analyse timings sheets from Friday practice sessions,” says Seidl. “The desire grew, so I studied mechanical engineering with a clear target to be an engineer in Formula 1 – that was the goal.”
Both his parents worked in education and there was no history of motor racing in the family, but like so many who work in the sport today, as a youngster Seidl had a steely determination to get to F1 and nothing was going to stand in his way.
Even before he’d finished his course at Munich University, he was badgering former BMW Motorsport Director Mario Theissen for a work placement, at the time when the manufacturer was an engine supplier to Williams (from 2000 to 2005).
“In those days it was possible to get hold of Mario Theissen on the phone and I must have called him three or four times, desperate to do an apprenticeship,” recalls Seidl. “Every time he would say ‘it’s not possible’ until finally he relented and I got in. I hadn’t even finished my studies, but could finish my diploma there, and at the age of 23 they took me on. I was in.”
Seidl was placed on BMW’S Formula 1 engine programme in Munich, working on the dynos in power development and reliability. While it was his first step into the sport, he still had a clear target to work trackside so subsequently transferred to BMW’S test team. Finally, in 2003, he made the breakthrough and was on the race team working as Mark Webber’s BMW engine engineer.
“It was great to finally work in the business and to meet the heroes that I used to watch on TV in the 1990s when I was young – people like Frank Williams and Patrick Head. I got to learn from an English garage how Formula 1 works and it was a great experience, but I also wanted to show what I could contribute.”
BMW supplied engines to Williams for six seasons, but further attempts to integrate with the team were rebuffed, so in 2006 the German car manufacturer turned to Sauber to enlarge its Formula 1 presence, effectively making the Swiss team its works entry. Seidl moved to Switzerland and took the opportunity to work on the chassis side of the operation, becoming head of track operations and helping the team grow and improve enough to win the 2008 Canadian Grand Prix with Robert Kubica.
A year later F1 hit a crisis. With a global recession looming and the threat of a breakaway championship, BMW, like Honda, suddenly pulled the plug. For Seidl, it was a huge shock.
“It was really out of the blue and a tough period for me personally,” he says wistfully. “I was in charge of people and we had to reduce the team as a consequence, making some tough decisions. It was a big shock because I
“FORMULA 1 IS UNIQUE. THERE IS THE ATTENTION TO DETAIL, THE PERMANENT QUESTIONING OF YOURSELF, NEVER STANDING STILL, ALWAYS GOING FOR THE EXTRA MILE, THE PUBLIC PRESSURE, AND ALSO THE MENTALITY OF SAYING ‘NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE’”
didn’t know anything else apart from Formula 1.
“When you are a part of this bubble, you think you cannot live without it. It took some months for me to get over it and I was looking for other challenges in Formula 1, but
I stayed with BMW and then realised there were other motorsport categories around the world which were competitive and fun.”
During this time Seidl worked in various championships, including IMSA sportscars in North America and FIA World Touring Cars, before taking on the project management of preparing BMW’S return to the DTM (German touring car) championship for 2012.
“The exciting thing for me was to apply everything I had learned in Formula 1 to all the other motorsport categories I was involved in, and I think that was one of the reasons why we were quite successful,” says Seidl. “That’s because Formula 1 is unique. There is the attention to detail, the permanent questioning of yourself, never standing still, always going for the extra mile, the public pressure, and also the mentality of saying ‘nothing is impossible.’”
After a 20-year absence from the DTM, BMW – under Seidl’s guidance – won the drivers’ and teams’ championship double at the first time of asking. Seidl was then the obvious candidate to help mastermind Porsche’s return to Le Mans after an absence of 16 years. Although he was leaving BMW, this was another chance for the man from Passau to build a team again from scratch, and he was reunited with one of his former drivers, Mark Webber. Within a year, Nico Hülkenberg had helped pilot Porsche to victory at the Le Mans 24 Hours, which was the first of three consecutive recent wins for the manufacturer at the endurance classic.
“It was tough at the beginning, we had to get a lot of people together in a short period of time, in parallel with building up the infrastructure and creating a complex car,” explains
Seidl. “But we created the foundation for success.”
While triumphing in both touring cars and sportscars, Seidl had never lost sight of his first love – F1. So, when fellow Le Mans entrant Zak Brown (who was competing with his own United Autosports team) approached Seidl at the race last year about the possibility of him joining Mclaren, the German says the idea was “appealing straightaway.”
Further discussions took place with the Mclaren shareholders, and after he’d been presented with the board’s plans and commitment to invest in the organisation in a bid to return it to the front of the field, Seidl says it was “an easy decision to make.”
Under the stewardship of Brown, certain key decisions were made to reorganise Mclaren and its technical operation. The divorce with Honda was enacted during Brown’s first season with the team in 2017, and subsequently James Key was head-hunted from Toro Rosso to become Mclaren’s new technical director as it went through a significant restructure in the first half of 2018. Then, on 1 May this year, Seidl arrived as Mclaren’s team principal whereupon acting head Gil de Ferran moved aside to focus on non-f1 Mclaren projects, such as Indycar and sportscars.
In the months since starting his new role, Seidl has been integrating himself into the factory, garage and all aspects of the team, to understand operations, procedures and weaknesses within the organisation. It’s a big job but, as is clear from what’s happened on the racetrack since, the changes are already having a positive effect.
“I love to go into organisations and make contact with people and try and convince them we can achieve something together,” enthuses Seidl, leaning forward in his chair. “The approach I have is that it’s important not to jump to conclusions too early because you need to get a certain impression of what’s going on in a team, especially after the tough period Mclaren has had in the last five years.
“I simply took my time and have had a lot of talks with people, be it in the office, at the coffee machine, at hotel bars – I join a lot of meetings, simply to get a feeling of what is going on inside the team, the atmosphere, the spirit and to build the full picture.
“This is something I’m digesting right now. I’m also looking at organisational deficits on the infrastructure side and if there are things that are obvious, like the windtunnel, which I put on the table straightaway.”
In the week prior to our chat, Seidl revealed that Mclaren is to strip out its old, out-of-date windtunnel and build a new one in situ in Woking, thereby negating the need for the team to travel to use Toyota’s tunnel in Cologne, as is currently the case. The twoyear project is a sign of the board’s commitment and the long-term strategy to rebuild the Mclaren F1 programme. “As soon I as see stuff I want to change, I take action,” Seidl adds.
Those words might give certain people at Mclaren cause to feel nervous. Old working practices and traditions labelled ‘we’ve always done it that way’ need to be broken down. As Williams has discovered, with over 80% of the team based at the factory, it’s this area that needs the most attention with regards to finding performance. Outsource if necessary, strengthen critical areas and have a clear management structure. From his experience in creating winning racing teams, Seidl has the credentials to sort Mclaren’s ills – but will he be ruthless?
“I wouldn’t call it ruthless,” he counters. “For me, it’s important I’m in charge of this racing team. I have my ideas of how you run a successful organisation and I’ll implement these ideas with a clear strong leadership from my side.
“I think that’s required because of where the team is at the moment. Also, it’s important to say a lot of changes have been implemented last year and they are starting to pay off. You can see from the beginning of the season we have made a good step forward with the car.
“We have a good spirit now inside the team and it’s about working together with James [Key] to work out a clear plan with how we want to set up the team for the future. I rate James highly, both technically and as a personality.
“He has the same thinking and approach as I have, and our door is always open. I want to be close to the garage and workshops to understand what is going on.
“I’ve worked in a lot of these positions in various racing teams myself over the past 15 years, so I think I have a good feeling for what is good for the team.”
When Mclaren came to Barcelona at the beginning of May it could only manage tenth and 12th on the grid. At a similar track at Paul Ricard, a month later, Mclaren qualified both cars in the top six for the first time since 2014 – a clear indication that technical updates are working.
“This is the most important thing, the results we are having at the moment, but we must not get over excited, as it’s so tight in the midfield,” Seidl cautions. “It can change quickly – we are fast one day, another day it’s another team. Still, it’s important to have these results because of the positive spirit it brings the team.
“I’m not dreaming about victories or championships, for us it’s important to have a positive development which hopefully brings us closer to the top cars. We have a healthy budget, a good infrastructure, motivated, talented people and we are underperforming. Full stop.
“My focus is to make continual improvements step-by-step to bring us to the best possible position. It will take time to get to a level with Mercedes and Ferrari – but we will give it our all.”
With that, Andreas breaks into a smile and descends the stairs of the Mclaren motorhome to return to the garage and oversee the next engineering meeting. By hiring this man from the Inn valley, Mclaren looks set for a brighter future.
“IT WILL TAKE TIME TO GET TO A LEVEL WITH MERCEDES AND FERRARI – BUT WE WILL GIVE IT OUR ALL”