McLaren going through "a very painful time" ahead of F1 restart

McLaren Formula 1 team principal Andreas Seidl has revealed the organisation is going through "a very painful time" after recently announcing heavy job losses.

The McLaren Group confirmed late in May that due to the impact of the Covid-19 crisis it would be forced to make redundant 1,200 of its 4,000-strong workforce across the company's three divisions - Racing, Automotive and Applied.

Seidl has confirmed that 70 of those job losses will be on the race team, and that will naturally have an impact going forward.

McLaren had been seeking a budget cap of around $100million in order to help preserve jobs, but with the figure set for $145m for next year, cuts have had to be made.

"It's a very challenging time for all of us, with the latest announcement we did two weeks ago," said Seidl, speaking on the Sky F1 Show.

"With the way the regulations played out - it is not a secret we were heavily pushing for the budget cap to be even lower - and with salaries being such a big part of the budget, unfortunately, there is no way to avoid redundancies.

"On the F1 team we will lose 70 of our valued team members in the future. At the same time, I think we still need more time, with the regulations being fresh, to work out what the exact shape and size of the team will look like.

"But of course, it's a very painful time, especially for our people."

The one relief for Seidl is that McLaren staff have returned to work at the factory following a lengthy enforced shutdown, and are making preparations for the start to the season that begins with the Austrian Grand Prix on July 5.

"It's actually good to finally be back in the MTC [McLaren Technology Centre]," added Seidl.

"It's good to see all the race team again, and on production as well. Step by step we ramp up the team now, and we have a clear outlook on the first eight races at least. It's good, a lot of positivity around."

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