Zak Brown says his McLaren F1 Team has not given Stoffel Vandoorne the machinery needed for him to shine during his Formula 1 career to date, but the Belgian still needs to start beating team-mate Fernando Alonso on a more regular basis if he wants a future within the Woking-based outfit.
Vandoorne has just eight points to his name in the opening twelve races of 2018 with only three finishes inside the top ten, compared to forty-four points for Alonso, while the Spaniard has out-qualified him in every race so far.
But Brown, the CEO of McLaren, says he is not disappointed by the performances shown by Vandoorne this year however he would like to see him fighting with Alonso more in the remaining nine races of the year.,
This is particularly important as the likes of Carlos Sainz Jr., likely to be a free agent if he does not get the call to replace Daniel Ricciardo at Aston Martin Red Bull Racing, and current McLaren reserve driver Lando Norris are eyeing up the Belgian’s seat for 2019.
“I wouldn’t say we’re disappointed by Stoffel,” Brown is quoted as saying by Autosport. “You’d like to see him beating his team-mate more often than he has.
“That’s the same in any situation. You’d love to see your team-mates split right down the middle in beating each other every weekend.
“He’s not been able to do that on a regular basis but I wouldn’t say we’re disappointed because last year we know we gave him a very difficult situation and this year we’ve not given him a very good car to work with.
“Given Fernando’s talent and experience he’s able to adapt to situations that aren’t great. We all believe Stoffel’s done an excellent job but we would like to see him beat Fernando more often.”
