Seidl talks about how McLaren is dealing with the media being on top of everything

Andreas Seidl feels that Formula 1 is growing and that there is more and more media attention. The McLaren team boss agrees that this also has its downside at times, but he tries to see the positive side of it.

Since Liberty Media took over Formula 1 from its former owner Bernie Ecclestone, a lot has changed. Whereas the premier class of motor sport was a very closed world, as of 2017 the fans have every opportunity to see what goes on behind the scenes.

Ecclestone's philosophy was that social media was not good for Formula 1 and therefore he had its use severely restricted. Liberty Media has been intent on growing Formula 1 from the outset and is doing everything in its power to achieve that goal. The use of social media is encouraged and Drive to Survive gives the fans a unique insight.

Focus on F1

Formula 1 fans have increased tremendously in recent years and that also means more media attention. That attention is nice for a team at times when things are going well, but it can also be experienced as annoying or irritating.

At McLaren, this is no different than at other teams. Seidl is not surprised that everything to do with McLaren is increasingly (and faster) under a magnifying glass in Britain. "That was already clear to me, Formula 1 is one of the biggest sporting events in the world and so there is extremely high interest. That is also what we want. It was no surprise to me. Besides, the media world has changed a lot in the last 15 years - especially with the increasing presence of social media."

"As with everything, there are positives and negatives," he further told F1-Insider.com."It's important for a team to be transparent and open. That's what we try to do at McLaren, as much as we can. We are fortunate that in Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo we have two drivers who are almost perfect in this area. They both make our whole team look very likeable. That in turn is good for team morale."