Stoffel Vandoorne was disappointed to fail to reach Q3 in qualifying for the Brazilian Grand Prix as he struggled to get the tyres to work during Q2 around the Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace.
The Belgian was unable to match the pace of his McLaren Honda Formula 1 Team team-mate, Fernando Alonso, throughout the session and failed to improve on his final lap in Q2 to which he struggled to understand why.
“I’m not 100 per cent satisfied with today – it was a bit of a strange session for us,” said Vandoorne. “In Q2, I had some difficulties getting the tyres to work and I’m not sure why that is.
With the final set of tyres on my last run we didn’t really manage to improve, and we need to delve into the data later to see if we can work out why.”
The ten-place grid penalty for Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo moves Vandoorne up to twelfth on the grid and he knows he is in a position to collect some points on Sunday.
“If I reflect back on Friday, our long-run performance looked quite strong, so hopefully we can take those positives into the race,” said the Belgian. “We know it’s always difficult for us to overtake, but from where we’re starting there’s always a chance for points.
“If we can get a good start and drive the perfect race maybe it will be possible.”
