Vandoorne: McLaren has made no progress in 2018

  • Published on 27 Aug 2018 12:19
  • comments 5
  • By: Fergal Walsh

Stoffel Vandoorne says that McLaren hasn't progressed at all since the start of the 2018 season. His comments come after a miserable weekend at the Belgian Grand Prix, where the Woking based team failed to come away with any points.

Vandoorne's home event looked bleak from the get-go, as he lacked pace during the practice sessions. On Saturday, he qualified right at the back of the field, before crossing the line at the end of the Grand Prix in P15 - the last of the runners.

“It’s difficult to get a worse weekend. We’ve seen the performance we have is very far away from being good. There’s not really an explanation. The reality is we haven’t progressed since the start of the year, we haven’t progressed at all compared to the others.”

McLaren was hoping that 2018 would see improved results following its three painful years with Honda. This year it has been having trouble identifying aerodynamic stalls on the car in its wind tunnel, which has halted the team from fixing its problems.

At Spa, the team suffered from top-speed issues which are believed to have come from misjudged gear ratios. The gears were set at the start of the season, with the car reaching the rev limiter too early on the long Spa straights.

“There’s no shying away that it’s been a difficult year so far,” said sporting director Gil de Ferran. “This is a difficult car [and] particularly this weekend has exposed a lot of our weaknesses, mainly in straightline speed. The car has other issues as well, but that’s a big one which became very apparent here.”

Replies (5)

Login to reply
  • kngrthr

    Posts: 203

    hard to believe in the worlds premier motor sport catagory that teams can't adjust gear ratios to suit the conditions, just to satisfy an artificial limit on parts usage

    • + 0
    • Aug 27 2018 - 13:09
    • No KNGRTHR
      All cars have 8 gears. 8 Gears to cater for Monaco as well as Monza and have had so since 2014. If they had speed issues because of miscalculated gear ratios, it is nothing less than a complete cock-up by McLaren.

      • + 0
      • Aug 27 2018 - 13:19
    • @ramshoek2 I'm not as up on the rules these days but you use to have 1 joker to adjust the ratios. However it's pretty fundamental and they should have enough simulations and calcs to work out what is required unless the info supplied by Renault was wrong.

      • + 0
      • Aug 27 2018 - 19:32
  • Bhurt

    Posts: 320

    #BlameEricsson

    • + 0
    • Aug 27 2018 - 16:38
  • Sounds like someone who has already said his goodbyes instead of someone who wants to keep his seat. In my estimation drivers don't have any right to complain about their cars. This shows the difference between a good and a great driver. Alonso and Vandoorne bitch about their cars instead of helping the team develop better cars like great drivers do.

    • + 0
    • Aug 27 2018 - 18:05

BE Grand Prix of Belgium

Local time 

BEGrand Prix of Belgium

Local time 

World Championship standings 2024

Show full world champion standings

Test calendar

See full test schedule

Related news

Give your opinion!

Will Bottas challenge Hamilton for the world championship in 2020?

Formula 1 Calendar - 2024

Date
Grand Prix
Circuit
-
Bahrain
29 - Mar 2
Bahrain
7 - Mar 9
Saudi Arabia
22 - Mar 24
Australia
5 - Apr 7
Japan
19 - Apr 21
China
3 - May 5
United States of America
17 - May 19
Italy
24 - May 26
Monaco
7 - Jun 9
Canada
21 - Jun 23
Spain
28 - Jun 30
Austria
5 - Jul 7
United Kingdom
19 - Jul 21
Hungary
26 - Jul 28
Belgium
23 - Aug 25
Netherlands
30 - Sep 1
Italy
13 - Sep 15
Azerbaijan
20 - Sep 22
Singapore
18 - Oct 20
United States of America
25 - Oct 27
Mexico
1 - Nov 3
Brazil
22 - Nov 24
United States of America
29 - Dec 1
Qatar
6 - Dec 8
United Arab Emirates
See full schedule

Formula 1 Calendar - 2024

Date
Grand Prix & Circuit
29 - Mar 2
7 - Mar 9
Saudi Arabia Jeddah Street Circuit
22 - Mar 24
Australia Albert Park
5 - Apr 7
19 - Apr 21
3 - May 5
United States of America Miami International Autodrome
17 - May 19
24 - May 26
Monaco Monte Carlo
7 - Jun 9
21 - Jun 23
28 - Jun 30
Austria Red Bull Ring
5 - Jul 7
United Kingdom Silverstone
19 - Jul 21
Hungary Hungaroring
26 - Jul 28
23 - Aug 25
Netherlands Circuit Zandvoort
30 - Sep 1
Italy Monza
13 - Sep 15
Azerbaijan Baku City Circuit
20 - Sep 22
18 - Oct 20
United States of America Circuit of the Americas
25 - Oct 27
1 - Nov 3
Brazil Interlagos
22 - Nov 24
United States of America Las Vegas Street Circuit
29 - Dec 1
6 - Dec 8
United Arab Emirates Yas Marina Circuit
See full schedule

Driver profile

  • Team -
  • Points -
  • Podiums -
  • Grand Prix -
  • Country Belgium
  • Date of b. Mar 26 1992 (32)
  • Place of b. Kortrijk, Belgium
  • Weight 65 kg
  • Length 1.77 m
Show full profile

Team profile

Show full profile
show sidebar