Stoffel Vandoorne has said that his fifteenth-place finish at this weekend’s race at the Suzuka International Racing Course was not a good result for the team.
The McLaren F1 Team has had a difficult time this year, finishing near the back of the field for most of the season.
Similarly, Vandoorne’s team-mate, the Spaniard Fernando Alonso, who is due to leave the sport at the end of the season, had a disappointing race, finishing just ahead in fourteenth.
“It wasn’t a great race for us. It was pretty difficult at the beginning, and there wasn’t really any possibility to resist the quicker cars.” said the Belgian.
The Woking-based team did change their engine supplier from Honda to Renault, in an attempt to make them competitive, but unfortunately it did not work.
“We were more or less passengers on the straights. At least the race turned out a little better towards the end, and we managed to beat a few cars on pace.
“With the tyre degradation, we were able to make them last and make a one-stop work, catch up with some cars and hold some other cars behind us,” said Vandoorne.
“I think that was that was more or less the maximum possible today.” he added.
