Stoffel Vandoorne was left frustrated after struggling to fourteenth in his first home Grand Prix, with the pace of his McLaren Honda Formula 1 Team just not good enough to challenge for points.
The Belgian had started right at the back of the field following multiple penalties for engine and gearbox changes, but the straight-line speed disadvantage left them no chances to overtake, and with too much to do in the corners.
Vandoorne feels the only positive he can take away from Spa-Francorchamps was that he saw the chequered flag, with a fourteenth place finish the best he could really have asked for on an extremely difficult day.
“It was a difficult race for us today,” admitted Vandoorne. “We had a good start, but from there on it was a pretty frustrating race.
“From the position we were starting in too, it was always going to be tricky, especially as I felt that our car was reasonably good and the pace was there to progress, but we were just a sitting duck on the straights.
“It meant we had no chance to overtake anyone, and no chance to defend from the other guys behind us. It was more or less the maximum we could do today. We got to the flag and that’s probably the only positive.
“We always knew it was going to be tough, and today showed that.”
