Vandoorne admits career suffered due to Alonso influence at McLaren

Martin Macdonald

Thursday 28 February 2019 14:32

Stoffel Vandoorne has admitted that his Formula 1 career did not live up to the promise of his previous motorsport accomplishments because McLaren were too interested in meeting the needs of two-time world champion Fernando Alonso than on making sure he was competitive.

Belgian Vandoorne raced at McLaren with Honda and then Renault power in 2017 and 2018, but for 2019 has been dropped and is now a Mercedes simulator and Formula E driver.

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He said of his F1 career: "It was not always easy. Actually, it was very difficult.

"My motor sport career went almost perfectly up until formula one," Vandoorne told the Dutch broadcaster Ziggo Sport.

"I won almost every championship I took part in.

"The timing at McLaren was probably not the best because the car has not been good for several years. Unfortunately it was not the best years in my career."

When asked whether he believed his F1 career was hampered by McLaren being too focused on Alonso, he said:

"Yes. Unfortunately, I have never been able to tell 99 per cent of what happened."

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