Seidl indifferent about party mode: "As long as we get the same material"

The FIA have created some discussion with their latest proposal to ban party modes in Formula 1. To make the competition fairer, a ban on such engine modes is being considered. McLaren team boss Andreas Seidl has no trust in the ban and thinks that Mercedes will still be the team to beat.

Ban on party mode

Mercedes, in particular, have had a particularly strong qualifying mode in recent years. On Saturdays, they are the team to beat. In the current season, this resulted in laps times which were over a second faster than their closest rivals Red Bull. 

In order to curb this dominance on Saturdays, the idea was put forward to ban these engine modes as soon as possible. Max Verstappen already indicated he was in favour of the idea of the FIA, but McLaren team boss Seidl doesn't see anything changing that quickly.

Mercedes remains dominant

In conversation with Autosport.com, Seidl says: "No matter how the rule changes turn out, I think Mercedes has the capacity and the ability to stay on top in today's hybrid power era".

McLaren will switch from Renault to Mercedes next year as a customer. The team boss says: "For us, as a customer, it is especially important that, regardless of the rule changes, we get the same material as the works team itself uses. I have confidence in both Renault and Mercedes that they will treat their customers the same as their own team".