McLaren Honda driver Stoffel Vandoorne put his head down and drove a tidy, measured Russian Grand Prix, finishing 14th after starting from the back row of the grid due to a 15 place grid penalty after a power unit replacement.
The young Belgian got the most he could from his car, but due to its power deficit on what is known to be a power circuit, he was unable to challenge any of the runners ahead of him.
“From my side, 14th position was pretty much the best possible result,” he said. “I had a decent start but had to avoid a first-corner accident, which meant I got a five-second time penalty for missing the markers at Turn Two. However, I don't think that did anything to change today's result. It was a pretty normal race, we ran at our own pace, I did the maximum possible and I think 14th is a fair reflection of where we're at.
The team took the positive from the fact that Stoffel finished the race, especially in such tough conditions and starting from the back of the grid, especially as his teammate, Fernando Alonso was forced to stop on track during the formation lap and was therefore unable to start the race.
“Fernando not being able to start shows that there's still a lot of work to do on the reliability side – that's two races in a row where two McLarens haven't started,” Stoffel added. “That's a shame, but at least we got to the finish – that meant a lot of learning for the team and a lot of learning for myself. But, in terms of pace, we're still not quick enough – that's for sure.”
