Another non-points scoring finish for Stoffel Vandoorne rounded out his Formula 1 career with the McLaren F1 Team as he completed his forty-second race weekend for the Woking-based team.
The Belgian driver started the race from eighteenth place and managed to work his way up to fourteenth in the race, battling for position on occasion.
“No points today to finish the year, but nevertheless it was a pretty good race.” said Vandoorne. “I had fun out there today – we knew it was going to be a tough one for us, especially without there being many incidents.
“We fought very hard and closed in on a couple of cars, and that was a really enjoyable part of the race. I fought like hell to keep cars behind!
“I’m happy with what we did this year with what we had. It’s great to finish the season – today we gave everything and now I’m happy to see the chequered flag.
“Unfortunately, we weren’t quick enough for points, but that was always going to be the case. I’m happy with how the race went, I gave it everything.”
Vandoorne’s two-year stint in Formula 1 can be looked at as a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time as the McLaren team suffer through one of their worst periods in the sport.
Despite losing out to team-mate Fernando Alonso in qualifying every race weekend this year, the 2015 GP2 champion put in a strong performance through the season in an underperforming car.
A new challenge awaits the Belgian in a few weeks time as the 2018-19 Formula E season gets under way where he will partner Mercedes’ 2018 DTM champion Gary Paffett in the HWA Racelab team.
“It’s time to celebrate a little bit and then time to move on to something fresh. I’m sure tomorrow my head will switch to my new challenge. I’m looking forward to it.”
