Vandoorne says his McLaren is "impossible" to race with
- Published on 10 Apr 2017 12:59
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- By: Fergal Walsh
Following up on the comments from his team mate, Stoffel Vandoorne has spoken out against Honda, claiming the McLaren chassis is very efficient.
Honda, who are powering McLaren, have lacked power since their reintroduction to Formula 1 in 2015. This year was expected to be the year it all went well for them, however, it has gone from bad to worse.
Alonso has repeatedly criticised the Japanese manufacturer while Vandoorne has kept relatively quiet. Now it seems he too has joined the voice of shaming Honda.
"The car feels pretty good. When I was behind the Williams of Massa, I even commented that I was faster in every corner," he told the Belgian newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws.
"Our top speed on the straights is too low for racing. It's impossible for us. At the start of the straight you look in the mirror and by the end a car is next to you. We urgently require more power Even with DRS open we can't pass anybody."
Alonso seemed to be much quicker than Vandoorne in the race but the Belgian says this was because he was near the back, therefore battling with more cars.
"The engineers said our potential laptimes were similar, but the difference was the groups we were in. Up front, the pace is higher but further back, where I was, you lose time because there are more slow cars."
"The feeling with the car is pretty good, the updates seem to work, the chassis is moving in the right direction - we just lack speed on the straights."
Formula 1 immediately travels to Bahrain for next weekend's event, however, Vandoorne doesn't see any way the team can have a better performance there.
"It's the second race of the year, we know it's not easy with our car now but we try the best we can and there will be improvements soon. But it will probably not be for Bahrain -- I think it's going to be a bit of a difficult weekend for us again."
Fergal Walsh
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Replies (2)
Login to replyStigsSon
Posts: 35
Such a talent. Without doubt a future world champ. Vandoorne's talent is wasted in the McLaren.
Barron
Posts: 625
"Second race of the year?" Confused he is?