McLaren’s Andreas Seidl has admitted to learning about the F1 mind games from Mercedes’ Toto Wolff and Red Bull’s Christian Horner.
Any F1 fans know that the racetrack is only one place where the battles take place. Away from it, it’s equally as intense, especially the ones between Team Principals Toto Wolff and Christian Horner. Meanwhile, Seidl is happy to learn about mind games from Wolff and Horner, and wants to take it as a learning experience.
“Well, I’m already following this. I always look at what other teams are doing, even off the racetrack, because you can often learn something from them,” Seidl said.
“One day you could find yourself in a similar situation, so I’m watching it. It’s not that I spend too much time on it, but there is always something to learn,” he concluded.
The drama with Mercedes and Red Bull escalated to another level since the events of the British Grand Prix. At Silverstone, Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen collided, and the latter crashed and retired. Then in Hungary, Valtteri Bottas took out Sergio Perez and damaged Verstappen, who could only manage a P10 while Hamilton finished third.
Mind games
Psychology in F1 is very much a thing. Especially with rivals, when any mental advantage is definitely an advantage. While Mercedes and Red Bull are duking it out for the top spot, McLaren and Ferrari are engaged in a midfield battle. This rivalry is not half as dramatic as the Mercedes-Red Bull one, but it could still escalate in the second half of the season.
Ferrari and McLaren sit level with the same points. It is thus Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc versus Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo. However, it is also a battle of the minds and a chess game in F1, and driving is only half the deal in the sport.
Read more: Wolff speaks about Mercedes’ approach this season – “We are the hunter”