Vandoorne: I am very closely matched to Alonso 

Stoffel Vandoorne believes he is “very closely matched” to McLaren Formula 1 teammate Fernando Alonso and feels statistical comparisons between the pair do not tell the “whole story”.

Vandoorne has been outshone by Alonso so far in his second full-season in F1, having scored just eight points to the Spaniard’s haul of 32, with McLaren enjoying greater competitiveness and reliability following its switch from Honda to Renault power heading into 2018. 

The Belgian has also failed to out-qualify his teammate in the last 11 races - a run that stretches back to last year’s Malaysian Grand Prix - but insists he is in a much stronger position this season going head-to-head against his double F1 title-winning teammate. 

“I don’t think that tells the whole story,” Vandoorne said. “Obviously the statistics tell may be that, but I think in reality we are actually very, very closely matched in terms of what was last year. 

“I feel I’m in a much better position this year, and I think things have not always gone my way, we lacked a little bit of luck in some of the occasions and in some occasions Fernando was quicker as well, which is normal.”

McLaren had high expectations of challenging for podiums heading into the campaign, but has endured a trickier start than envisaged, finishing inside the top five only once in Melbourne’s season-opener. 

The Woking-based squad is four points adrift of engine suppliers Renault in the battle over fourth in the constructors’ and has lacked straight-line speed compared to its nearest midfield rivals, though Vandoorne is adamant his team is making progress. 

“I think we’re going in the right direction, the team is moving forward,” Vandoorne explained. “Obviously we’ve had a tough start to the season, there was a lot of expectations on our team, and we’ve not managed to perform as expected so we keep improving race after race and hopefully this weekend we can show that we’ve made another step forward.

“It’s been a little bit of a difficult period,” he added. “I had a retirement in Spain, and then Fernando had a retirement in Monaco. Obviously that was not ideal but I think we’re still very close in this midfield and one weekend we are a bit stronger than another one. 

“I think the last couple of races have been difficult tracks for us as well in terms of overtaking. I think this weekend is a different story, this track is completely different than the other ones and hopefully it should provide us with some opportunities.”