Breaking news
Formula 1 Mexican GP
Vandoorne's worn rubber run "so impressive", says McLaren
Stoffel Vandoorne's ability to pull off an error-free one-stopper to eighth place in the Mexican Grand Prix has been hailed as 'so impressive' by his McLaren team.
Jonathan Noble
Edited: Oct 29, 2018, 1:21 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
The Belgian has endured some torrid times in recent months and is switching to Formula E after finding himself without a drive at the end of this season.
Read Also:
But a strong performance in Mexico, where he was able to do a 57-lap stint on supersofts without mistakes, helped deliver his first points since the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
Vandoorne's race engineer Tom Stallard took to Twitter to heap praise on the performance, and especially the way that Vandoorne did not make a mistake despite heavy degradation.
Showing a photograph of Vandoorne's heavily worn rubber, Stallard said: "On the inside of the front left tyre it looks smooth because the grip rubber is completely worn away. So impressive to drive tyres like this with no mistakes."
Vandoorne said the performance did not seem super special from the cockpit though, as he reckons recent races have also been as good but have not been noticed as much because he failed to finish in the points.
"I think there have been some really good races a couple of races ago as well, but everybody notices because we are rewarded with points," he said.
"I am very happy with the performance after lap one. We were last and we had to make a great recovery. Super happy with how everything went.
"We had some good overtakes on track, we made the tyres last in the crucial moments, we attacked when we had to attack."
Vandoorne admitted that having something to celebrate at this stage of the season meant he could also enjoy more his final races in F1.
"It's a great result for myself, but it's also a great result for the team," he said. "It's important for us for the constructor's championship. Now I'm going to enjoy the last couple of races."
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article FIA to clarify wheel rims rules after Mercedes controversy
Next article Horner credits Renault engine for Mexican GP win
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Jonathan Noble
Brundle awarded OBE in King’s New Year’s honours
Formula 1
Formula 1
Brundle awarded OBE in King’s New Year’s honours
The new rules dilemma that will define the 2025 F1 season
Formula 1
Formula 1
The new rules dilemma that will define the 2025 F1 season
Verstappen issues Red Bull title warning in push for RB21 progress
Formula 1
Formula 1
Australian GP
Verstappen issues Red Bull title warning in push for RB21 progress
More from
Stoffel Vandoorne
Stoffel Vandoorne to leave Peugeot’s WEC Hypercar team after Fuji
WEC
WEC
Fuji
Stoffel Vandoorne to leave Peugeot’s WEC Hypercar team after Fuji
Aston Martin retains Stoffel Vandoorne as simulator, test and reserve driver for 2026
Formula 1
Formula 1
Barcelona-Catalunya Pre-Season Testing
Aston Martin retains Stoffel Vandoorne as simulator, test and reserve driver for 2026
Stoffel Vandoorne to return to Peugeot in WEC 2026, replace Jean-Eric Vergne
WEC
WEC
Bahrain
Stoffel Vandoorne to return to Peugeot in WEC 2026, replace Jean-Eric Vergne
More from
McLaren
What's behind Oscar Piastri's split with Mark Webber – and what it means for his F1 career
Formula 1
Formula 1
Sao Paulo GP
3 h
What's behind Oscar Piastri's split with Mark Webber – and what it means for his F1 career
Malthe Jakobsen completes McLaren's WEC Hypercar driver line-up
WEC
WEC 4 h
Malthe Jakobsen completes McLaren's WEC Hypercar driver line-up
Latest news
Alex Bowman hits out at critics in snarky post, shooting down early exit rumors
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Homestead-Miami
1 h
Alex Bowman hits out at critics in snarky post, shooting down early exit rumors
Ryan Blaney gets sweet redemption after 'nightmares' following 2024 Homestead loss
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Homestead-Miami
1 h
Ryan Blaney gets sweet redemption after 'nightmares' following 2024 Homestead loss
IndyCar 2026 season review: Dale Coyne Racing
IndyCar
Indy IndyCar 2 h
IndyCar 2026 season review: Dale Coyne Racing
Noah Gragson apologizes to Daniel Suarez for spinning him at Homestead
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Homestead-Miami
2 h
Noah Gragson apologizes to Daniel Suarez for spinning him at Homestead
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe