Despite having the upgraded ‘spec three’ power unit, Stoffel Vandoorne was out-qualified by team-mate Fernando Alonso in qualifying for the Austrian Grand Prix, with the Spaniard having been forced to revert back to a ‘spec two’ unit on Saturday.
The McLaren Honda Formula 1 Team racer was 0.139 seconds down on Alonso, with the team-mates set to start twelfth and thirteenth on the grid, but despite this, he feels positive that his weekend has gone well so far, and that it was only ‘small details’ that prevented either driver from advancing into the top ten.
“I think it’s been a pretty good weekend for us so far,” said Vandoorne. “The practice sessions have gone well and qualifying was more or less what we expected.
“This afternoon’s times were extremely close: it all came down to a couple of small details – with another couple of tenths, we’d have been into Q3. So today really shows that every improvement we bring to the car is very valuable – it all helps.
“We’re definitely headed in the right direction – every new piece of performance we bring is welcome, but we need to keep pushing.”
