Seidl: "Much remains to be done to complete those rules"

McLaren team boss Andreas Seidl joins Renault and Ferrari and is against the 'free' upgrades that teams like Racing Point and AlphaTauri can enjoy for during the 2021 season. Because they are a customer teams and ''buy'' parts from Mercedes and Red Bull, the regulations allow that they don't have to spend development tokens.

'Free' upgrades

In Formula 1 Racing Point uses many 2019 Mercedes components, such as the transmission. In 2021 the team could upgrade to the 2020 version without having to pay with tokens. Seidl is not happy with this scenario. "Because it is simply illogical", he says to Motorsport-total.com.

"Let's compare it with our situation: we already have a contract that we have to change from Renault to Mercedes engines in 2021. Each team only has two tokens available. We have to use those two for the change and accept that compromise", Seidl continued.

Rules have yet to be finalised

Customer teams such as Racing Point and AlphaTauri can in turn enjoy 'free' upgrades through the loophole in the rules. The resulting tokens can then be used for other upgrades, while McLaren, for example, can only replace the engine.

"As a result, there's no point in another team getting an upgrade from 2019 to 2020, for the gearbox or suspension, and completely without the use of tokens. Much remains to be done to complete the rules. And I think it is important that the issue is raised repeatedly", says Seidl.