Seidl thinks differently from Horner: 'You don't solve that with random gimmicks'

Every now and then Formula 1 looks for creative ways to make it a little more exciting. For example, the idea of a reversed grid has passed by several times and the idea of invitational races has also been put forward. It can work, but it can also not work. It is a cloudy area and the biggest 'problem' of the sport is that Mercedes is too good. You can't solve that with gimmicks, says McLaren team boss Andreas Seidl.

Mercedes is the problem

Liberty Media is open to alternative forms of racing. And what the fire has recently revived are the races at Monza and Mugello. The first one was a spectacle as the field was shaken up after several events and Mugello was a fascinating outing for Formula 1, which was looking forward to it because of the pandemic.

However, Seidl believes that Formula 1 shouldn't do anything radical. To Motorsport.com he says: "Honestly, I don't see that we need it," responding to the question of whether he sees anything in invitational racing, "because I also don't see that we need things like reverse grids.

"But with one team with, let's say, the big resources having made simply a sensational job compared to the other two, unfortunately, that ended up this year in the dominance of Mercedes. That's the issue."

That's a problem for the other teams because clearly, Mercedes has done just a little better.

"I think in the end Mercedes worked hard to get there over the years, so they deserve also to be that dominant and to have the wins."

Finally, Seidl also focuses on 2022, when the new regulations come into force and the teams start from scratch again. That makes him very positive about more excitement in the sport.

No artificial things in F1

"With everything that is planned from 2022 onwards. I'm very optimistic. I’m hopeful that actually we create over the years a field that is a lot closer together, and a more level playing field. And also the new technical regulations should help." 

And that brings him to the conclusion of his story: "That's the reason why I'm not a fan of introducing any artificial randomness into Formula 1 because that's for me not F1."

This puts Andreas Seidl in contrast to Christian Horner, who sees invitational races as a nice addition to the fixed calendar. As a result, the team boss of Verstappen is also very pleased with the fact that Formula 1 is going to visit Istanbul, for example.