Source: McLaren Media Centre

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Vandoorne: I'm always close to Alonso in the races

Vandoorne: "I'm always close to Alonso in the races"

04-11-2018 15:44
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Nicolás Quarles van Ufford

McLaren's Stoffel Vandoorne has admitted that he's not been good enough this season in qualifying compared to teammate Fernando Alonso, but the Belgian does think that he's been better in races than people think.

It's been over a year since Vandoorne last beat Alonso in qualifying, with the Spaniard defeating Stoffel every single time this season, the only teammate to do so this year. Still, in races, the gap isn't big at all between the pair. It goes unnoticed, however, as McLaren haven't been driving in the points for most of the season.

"Fernando obviously is a fantastic driver and his qualities speak for themselves," Vandoorne said in an interview with Motorsport.com.

"I was more competitive in qualifying last season than this season.

"Because of a few problems, it was hard to get some of the updates to work.

"That's one of the reasons that I couldn't get close to Fernando in qualifying," the Belgian explained.

"Other things happened too and that made things look worse than they were, but in the race we're always close to each other."

Alonso has also defended Vandoorne in several interviews across this year, saying that the 26-year-old was closer to him in races than any of his other teammates were in his career.