McLaren Team Principal, Andreas Seidl, has said that his team must keep their heads down after Carlos Sainz took third place in the Brazilian Grand Prix.

Sainz drove a brilliant race, executing a one-stop strategy, to take third position, after Lewis Hamilton’s penalty, having started the race from last.

The result was Sainz’s first podium in Formula 1, and it was the first time McLaren had been on the top three steps since Kevin Magnussen took second place in the opening round of the 2014 season in Australia.

Although Seidl is happy McLaren have achieved a podium result, he has urged his team to get their heads down and remained focused so that they can maximise their future results, and possibly get another podium result.

“After the great result at Interlagos, it’s time to go racing again.” commented Seidl.

“We took time last week to celebrate Carlos’ podium and our confirmed P4 in the Constructors’ with the whole team back at the factory.

“But now, we have our heads down again and are focused on the task at hand.

“We know that we need to keep pushing at every opportunity if we want to earn more podiums, and the Brazilian Grand Prix provided all the motivation we need to achieve this goal.”

With Sainz taking third place in the Brazilian Grand Prix, McLaren have secured fourth in the constructor’s championship, but Sainz and Lando Norris are still fighting for position in the driver’s championship, and the McLaren Team Principal wants to ensure his team maximise their weekend and end the year on a high.

“We’ve made good progress over the season and we want to carry that into the final race.” added Seidl.

“With our Constructors’ position confirmed, we are now targeting the best possible positions in the Drivers’ Championship.

“Carlos is well placed to fight for sixth and Lando can also climb positions this weekend.

“Our passion and motivation remain strong and we’re looking forward to fighting until the very last lap of the season.”