Eric Boullier admitted the penultimate lap retirement for Fernando Alonso during the Canadian Grand Prix, thanks to yet another Honda power issue, was not good enough.
The Racing Director of the McLaren Honda Formula 1 Team had been hopeful that the Spaniard could bring the car home and score the team’s first point of 2017, but that went out of the window when the car broke down on the run down to turn eight.
With Stoffel Vandoorne trailing home in fourteenth, this left McLaren still seeking their first points finish of the year, and Boullier admitted it was yet another frustrating experience for everyone at the Woking-based team.
“For the first time this season, running in 10th place within spitting distance of the flag, we dared to hope,” admitted Boullier.
“OK, what we were daring to hope for were hardly rich pickings: a solitary world championship point for Fernando, who had driven superbly all afternoon, as he’s driven superbly every race-day afternoon for the past two-and-a-half years. But, after so much toil and heartache, even that single point would have felt like a victory.
“And then came yet another gut-wrenching failure. It’s difficult to find the right words to express our disappointment, our frustration and, yes, our sadness. So I’ll say only this: it’s simply, and absolutely, not good enough.”
