McLaren F1 Team driver Stoffel Vandoorne has said he is “very satisfied” at being able to finish in eighth place in the race at Mexico on Sunday.
It was a stellar drive from the Belgian, who started fifteenth as a result of penalties for the Red Bull Toro Rosso Honda driver Pierre Gasly, and also the Haas F1 Team driver Romain Grosjean.
“I’m very satisfied with today. We put a lot of hard work and preparation into this weekend in terms of what strategy to choose, and we knew it was possible to score points here,” said Vandoorne.
He added: “I’m super happy to finish eighth and score some points. It’s important for us for the Constructors’ Championship and now we can go on to enjoy the last couple of races.
Vandoorne said that there was a noticeable difference between their practice, qualifying and race performances.
“In practice we didn’t look super competitive and qualifying wasn’t the best result, but we were closer than usual, and we always know when we get to the race there’s an improvement. I’m glad we saw that today.”
He continued: “It was a great race. After lap one we were last and had a lot of work to do, so it was a strong recovery. I made some good overtakes on track which were very crucial, and in the end making the tyres last to finish eighth is also a great result for myself.”
Vandoorne said that the race was not easy, but they were able to time it correctly.
“It wasn’t easy at the beginning, but I was always there or thereabouts attacking at the right time when I had to, and managing the tyres at the same time.
“The crucial point was when we had to decide to go for one or two stops. The tyres were looking very tricky, but we managed to recover them a little bit and that was the turning point.”
