McLaren retains Stoffel Vandoorne for 2018

Stoffel Vandoorne has been nurtured by McLaren for several seasons and the team does not intend to let its young talent slip away. That’s why the team has confirmed that the young Belgian will remain with the team next season.

He was therefore not worried about his future when we spoke to him about it in the paddock at Silverstone: « There is nothing to worry about. I have a multi-year contract with the team. I am very happy here. Everything is moving in the right direction from a performance point of view. We are working very hard with the team. I spend a lot of time at the factory with the engineers and aerodynamicists to move forward. I focus solely on that. » Since then, his position has been strengthened again during the Hungarian Grand Prix when the driver managed to get back into the points, with the second tenth place of his career.

Nevertheless, Zak Brown, the CEO of McLaren, made a point not to specify the exact duration of his driver’s contract so as not to open the door to rivals at its expiration: « Before everyone starts asking me about the length of the agreement, we don’t want to get into these kinds of confidential contractual details but let me be clear: when we signed Stoffel, we intended for him to be with us for a number of years, and that remains our firm intention. »

On the other hand, the thorny issue for the leaders in the coming months is Fernando Alonso’s contract, which expires at the end of the season. Initially, the Spaniard had indicated that he planned to wait until September before making his decision. However, before the summer break, he hinted that he might extend his decision-making process until December to better assess the improvements Honda might make to its engine.

In this context, the team had every interest in quickly securing at least one of its seats to prevent being forced to find a new driver at the last minute, as Mercedes did this year.

With the participation of www.racingbusiness.fr