McLaren’s racing director Eric Boullier says both Fernando Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne will be aiming to break into Q3 in qualifying for the Bahrain Grand Prix but anticipates a tough midfield fight.
McLaren pair Fernando Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne have selected the most aggressive tyre allocations for the Bahrain Grand Prix compared to the rest of the Formula 1 field.
Sebastian Vettel has wrestled the top time from Valtteri Bottas on the opening morning of the second Formula 1 pre-season test at Circuit de Catalunya with McLaren hit by mechanical issues to see Stoffel Vandoorne complete just seven laps.
Full testing times from the fourth day of the first F1 pre-season test at Circuit de Catalunya, Spain [Thursday – 4pm]. 1. Stoffel Vandoorne BEL McLaren F1 Team 1m 19.854s 102 laps*
Full testing times from the fourth day of the first F1 pre-season test at Circuit de Catalunya, Spain [Thursday – 3pm]. 1. Stoffel Vandoorne BEL McLaren F1 Team 1m 19.854s 102 laps
Full testing times from the fourth day of the first F1 pre-season test at Circuit de Catalunya, Spain [Thursday – 2pm]. 1. Stoffel Vandoorne BEL McLaren F1 Team 1m 20.068s 89 laps
Formula 1 teams have been playing catch-up on lost mileage from yesterday’s washout due to the snow and rain as warmer weather returned to Circuit de Catalunya on the morning of the final day of the first pre-season test.
Full testing times from the second day of the first F1 pre-season test at Circuit de Catalunya, Spain [Tuesday – 1pm]. 1. Valtteri Bottas FIN Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport 1m 20.270s 43 laps
Full testing times from the second day of the first F1 pre-season test at Circuit de Catalunya, Spain [Tuesday – 12pm]. 1. Stoffel Vandoorne BEL McLaren F1 Team 1m 20.325s 16 laps
Zak Brown says McLaren faces a “luxury situation” with the possible options it has at its disposal for its Formula 1 driver line-up for the 2019 season.
Honda F1’s Yusuke Hasegawa says two MGU-H failures on race day at the United States Grand Prix was disappointing and it is working on a solution to avoid further failures at the next race in Mexico.
Fernando Alonso says he’s helping McLaren-Honda team-mate Stoffel Vandoorne by towing him down the long straights in order to maximise his opportunity in qualifying, after the Belgian driver produced a similar feat for him at Spa.