Stoffel Vandoorne felt disappointed to finish outside the points in eleventh on Sunday at Silverstone, with a slow pit stop seeing him drop behind Felipe Massa, which ultimately denied him his first top ten finish of 2017.
The Belgian had been running inside the points all afternoon until his pit stop, but the delay proved costly as he fell in behind the Williams Martini Racing driver, with the Brazilian claiming the final point on offer, less than four-seconds ahead of the McLaren Honda Formula 1 Team racer.
Despite this disappointment, he acknowledged that the team showed good competitiveness at Silverstone, fighting with the Sahara Force India F1 Team and with Williams on a track that should not have suited the MCL32 or it’s Honda power unit.
“It’s a shame to once again finish just outside the points – but there are plenty of positives to take away from this weekend,” admitted Vandoorne. “The pace we showed in the race today was very encouraging: to run as close as we did to both Force India’s and a Williams on a circuit like this is a real positive.
“Not everything went perfectly in the race – my pit-stop didn’t go too smoothly, so I came out side-by-side with Felipe and lost a position. That was a shame, because there was definitely a chance to finish ahead of him because our pace was very similar to his.
“So, unfortunately, no points – but today was very encouraging, and I’m sure our time will come.”
