The no-ego director behind McLaren’s new verve

Pre COVID-19, McLaren would have celebrated the opening two races of the season in Austria with a well-deserved social gathering. Amazing last laps from Lando Norris delivered a podium and a fifth place; a superb wet qualifying from Carlos Sainz and points in both races put the team second in the constructors' championship - a performance worthy of a shindig.

I can see it now: Zak Brown, CEO, brings the pecan pie, Lando the jelly and ice cream, and Carlos the churros. But what does team principal Andreas Seidl bring to the party? According to a man who has known him for 15 years, it would be something substantial, congratulatory and absolutely spot-on.

Mark Webber first met Seidl when driving for Williams in 2005. "Andreas was my engine technician," says the nine-time grand prix winner. "He was relatively junior in the BMW hierarchy in those days, but culturally he was one of the best of the bunch to knit into the English way of going racing.

"He was living in Munich, but the chemistry he created was over and above what some of the other engineers were doing."

Seidl joined BMW in 2000 and by the end of the decade he had become head of track operations at BMW Sauber. Sadly, that 2009 season didn't quite go to plan and BMW pulled out of F1 at the end of it, leaving Seidl unsatiated in his desire to be part of a winning campaign.

He made up for it a couple of years later, overseeing BMW's return to Germany's touring car series (the DTM) in 2012. He led the team to the drivers', teams' and manufacturers' titles, ahead of Mercedes and Audi.

It was an impressive result, but Seidl wasn't done. He joined Porsche in 2013, becoming team principal for a new campaign to win Le Mans and the World Endurance Championship. He soon impressed sportscar racing insiders with his analytical and methodical approach, laced with a dry sense of humour.

The Porsche 919 Hybrid made its debut at Silverstone in 2014, and Webber - who had left F1 in November the previous year - was one of six drivers under Seidl's authority.

"He makes it extremely clear on your roles; he's the boss. But he has this brilliant ability 
to be able to practise his personal and professional side with the drivers and everyone who works with him because he has a 
great human component" Mark Webber

"We rekindled the relationship very quickly once we got going," confirms Webber. "What I loved about him again was his incredible work ethic, good stamina and his respect for how things are done in F1. He was very open to ideas and discussions; we had a good dialogue.

"Andreas organised a meeting with the drivers, a chance for everyone to connect. Three drivers per car, driving for the great name of Porsche with success on the horizon. Exciting moments, until he told them in no uncertain terms that while there were three per car for now, the rules dictated only two drivers per car were necessary and if they didn't shape up, he was totally prepared to go down that route.

"As we left, some of the others were a bit stunned, muttering
 'Ah, now we've seen a different side to him'. He makes it extremely clear on your roles; he's the boss. But he has this brilliant ability 
to be able to practise his personal and professional side with the drivers and everyone who works with him because he has a 
great human component."

The combo delivered superbly. Porsche went on to win Le Mans three years in a row against Audi and Toyota, Webber became World Endurance champion in 2015, and Porsche won a hat-trick of World Endurance Championship doubles before withdrawing from LMP1 at the end of 2017.

Sportscar journalist Graham Goodwin witnessed Seidl's people skills from outside: "I never got the feeling of anything other than confidence from Andreas, never arrogance. He was a proper sportsman; gracious in defeat, gracious in victory as well."

Signed for McLaren under Zak Brown's leadership in January 2019, Andreas is aware that the timing was fortunate. The team had already ditched Honda, signed up two very promising racers in Sainz and Norris, and was about to have the benefit of fresh input from new technical director James Key.

Seidl spent those first weeks and months understanding the mindset of a team with such great history, yet which had suffered without a podium in five seasons. At round four in Baku, McLaren scored its first double points finish in 12 months. The season ended with fourth in the constructors' championship and a podium finish in Brazil for Sainz. The spirit of the team had been reawakened, and Webber is convinced there's more to come.

"Building for the future, Andreas brings a holistic approach, creating an image in his mind of how the team will develop," Webber explains. "He's got a good feel for the politics and that's still improving obviously because he's only been there five minutes. He's extremely international in his approach to motorsport, he's on top of it all."

His key traits in summary? "Very intelligent, no big ego, good sense of humour," Webber adds. "Loves celebrating a win, you can enjoy a beer with him, but when it's on, it's on..."

So, what would Andreas have brought 
to that post-Austria McLaren party? 
His international approach implies something Germanic but also much loved elsewhere; something to get your teeth into, rewarding and delivered with flair and dynamism. Andreas Seidl - apple strudel with spice? Party on!