McLaren still behind in Qualifying
Lacking pace in a weekend shortened by Friday's severe weather, McLaren's drivers failed to shine in Shanghai. Fernando Alonso, in 13th place, threw everything he had into the battle, but had no regrets. Stoffel Vandoorne, 16th, can curse Antonio Giovinazzi's run-off at the end of Q1.
McLaren-Honda approached this qualifying session with very few illusions about the expected results on this Shanghai circuit. Just like in Australia, neither of the drivers managed to make it to Q3. Let’s recall that the context is even less favorable for the Woking team, with a layout more demanding in engine power than the semi-urban track in Melbourne.
Fernando Alonso, 13th (1:34.372 in Q2)
The Spanish driver spared no effort to push the limits set by the unenviable predictions regarding the performance level of the MCL32. However, the result is no more conclusive than it was two weeks ago: « As in Australia, it was one of the best laps of my life! » the double world champion still stated.
The Spaniard also recalled the challenging Friday practice session, with its extreme weather conditions, which robbed the teams of valuable time for the development and setup of their cars.
The predictions were more pessimistic, especially after we couldn’t drive the day before.
Fernando Alonso specified that his team had installed new parts on his car: « This morning we tried new parts and everything worked as expected, but we were 17th and 19th with all the power available, and we were fighting [in qualifying] against Sauber for the last places… »
Before adding: « In the end, 13th is a gift from heaven! ».
The expected rain for tomorrow, however, brings a glimmer of hope to the Iberian: « Under the rain, we will always be 15th or 16th at the end of the straight line, but we will try to take more risks in the turns […] We have nothing to lose. »
Solid effort from Fernando who qualifies P13. #ChineseGP pic.twitter.com/3SMRgECU0H
— McLaren (@McLarenF1) 8 avril 2017
Stoffel Vandoorne, 16th (1:35.023 in Q1)
The Belgian driver had a sense of incompleteness at the end of Q1, due to the crash of the Italian Antonio Giovinazzi in the last seconds of the first part of the qualifying sessions, which forced the race marshals to wave the yellow flags in the final corner: « We are disappointed because luck played a big role in advancing to Q2 today. »
The Courtraisien, a rookie this year as a starter for McLaren, was directly impacted by the lack of practice runs the day before in free practice sessions, on a track he was unfamiliar with. He still made sure to highlight the positive aspects of his day: “I think it always helps a bit if you know the track! But I think this morning was quite alright overall, so we need to wait and see the possibilities for tomorrow.”
