didn’t know anything else apart from Formula 1.
“When you are apart of this bubble, you think you cannot livewithout it. It took some months for
me to get over it and I was looking for other challenges in Formula 1, but
I stayedwith BMW and then realised there were other motorsport categories aroundthe world
which were competitive and fun.”
During this time Seidl worked in various championships, including IMSA sportscars in North
America and FIA World Touring Cars, before taking on the project management of preparing BMW’s
return to the DTM (German touring car) championshipfor 2012.
“The exciting thing for me was to apply everything I had learned in Formula 1 to all the other
motorsport categories I was involved in, and I think that was one of the reasons why wewere quite
successful,”says Seidl. “That’sbecau se Formula 1 is unique. There is the attention to detail, the
permanent questioning of yourself, never standing still, alwaysgoing for the extra mile, the public
pressure, and alsothe mentality of saying ‘nothing is impossible.’”
After a 20-year absence from the DTM, BMW – under Seidl’s guidance – won the drivers’ and
teams’ championship double at the first time of asking. Seidl was then the obvious candidate to
help mastermind Porsche’s return to Le Mans after an absence of 16 years. Although he was leaving
BMW, this was another chance for the man from Passau to build a team again from scratch, and
he was reunited with one of hisformer drivers, Mark Webber. Within a year, Nico Hülkenberg had
helped pilot Porscheto victory at the Le Mans 24 Hours, which was the first of three consecutive
recent wins for the manufacturer at
the endurance classic.
“It was tough at thebeginning, we
had to geta lotof people toge ther
in a short period of time, inparallel
with building upthe infrastructure
and creating a complex car,”explains
Seidl. “Butwe created thefoundatio n
for success.”
While triumphing in both touring
cars and sportscars, Seidl had never
lost sight of his first love – F1. So, whenfellow Le Mans entrant Zak Brown (who was competing with
his own United Autosportsteam) approached Seidl at the race last year about thepossibility of him
joining McLaren, the German says the idea was “appealing straightaway.”
Further discussions took place with the McLaren shareholders, and after he’d been presented
with the board’s plans and commitment to invest in theorganisation in a bid to return it to the front
of the field, Seidl says it was“an ea sy decision to make.”
Under the stewardship of Brown, certain key decisions were made to reorganise McLaren and its
technical operation. The divorce with Honda was enactedduring Brown’s first season with the team
in 2017, and subsequently James Key was head-hunted from Toro Rosso to become McLaren’s new
technical director as itwent through a significant restructure in the first half of 2018. Then, on 1 May
this year, Seidl arrived as McLaren’s team principal whereupon acting head Gil de Ferran moved
aside to focus on non-F1 McLaren projects, such as Indycar and sportscars.
In the months since starting his new role, Seidl has been integrating himself into the factory,
garage and all aspects ofthe team, to understand operations, procedures andweaknesses withinthe
organisation. It’s a big job but, as is clear from what’s happened on the racetrack since, the changes
are already having a positive effect.
“I love to go into organisations and make contact with people and try and convince themwe can
achieve something together,” enthuses Seidl,leaning forward in his chair. “The approach I have is
that it’s important not to jumpto conclusionstoo early because you need to get a certain impression
of what’s going on in a team, especially after the toughperiod McLaren has had in the last five years.
“I simply took my time and have had a lot of talks with people, be it in the office, at the coffee
machine, at hotel bars – I join a lotof mee tings, simply to get a feeling ofwhat is going on inside the
team, the atmosphere, the spirit and to build the full picture.
“This is something I’m digesting right now. I’m also looking at organisational deficits on the
infrastructure side and if there are thingsthat are obvious, like thewindtunnel, which I put on
the table straightaway.”F1 RACING AUGUST 2019 75“I LOVE TO GO INTO ORGANISATIONS AND
MAKE CONTACT WITH PEOPLE AND TRY
AND CONVINCE THEM WE CAN ACHIEVE
SOMETHING TOGETHER”
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