Having patiently bided his time until an opportunity arose, Stoffel Vandoorne is rapidly learning that talent doesn’t equate to success, and he could be forgiven for contemplating whether the wait was worthwhile.
The Belgian acknowledged that his belated berth at McLaren represented his final attempt at a Formula One career, yet his debut season has offered little to vindicate his faith as the British outfit continues its perpetual flounder in collaboration with Honda.
At 25 Vandoorne is relatively seasoned, especially in contrast to Max Verstappen or fellow rookie Lance Stroll, who have experienced opposing fortunes – though there is no substitute for experience, with several unforced errors indicating that he requires further time to blossom.
In some respects McLaren’s plight presents an ideal environment in which to seek his limits, yet it doesn’t mean he should escape scrutiny if he can’t produce results – meaningless though they may appear on paper – which flatter the severely compromised package.
Teammate Fernando Alonso has shaded Vandoorne at each event, notably Spain, where the two-time champion qualified seventh and the Belgian’s race ended prematurely following a sloppy collision with Felipe Massa, a byproduct of inexperience and Honda’s startling lack of power.
The Spaniard infamously outdrove his Minardi in 2001, culminating in a performance in Japan which, despite finishing eleventh, team principal Paul Stoddart described as “fifty-three laps of qualifying.” Alonso has mounted several similar performances this season, frequently running in the points until inevitable power unit related failures have struck, whereas Vandoorne has often run close to the rear of the field.
Monaco represented the outfit’s best opportunity to register points, with the returned Jenson Button proved by setting the ninth fastest time in qualifying prior to a time-honoured power unit-induced grid penalty.
Vandoorne also appeared on the pace, provisionally seventh, only to crash in the dying stages of Q2, which, coupled with his three-place grid penalty for the incident at Barcelona, left him starting well adrift.
Having benefitted from others’ misfortune on Sunday, the Belgian was running tenth as the safety car appeared, only to slide off while defending from Sergio Perez on the restart at turn one. With only a handful of laps remaining, it was a frustrating opportunity which slipped through his and the team’s clutches. Tenth on debut while deputising for Alonso at Bahrain in 2016 remains his only score.
Pirelli’s tyre construction has leaned on the conservative side this season, so the resulting lack of heat in the rubber on the restart in tandem with Vandoorne running off the racing line, again born from inexperience, made the outcome predictable. Sauber capitalised on strategy at Spain with Pascal Wehrlein earning a priceless four points, so even a solitary point here would have been immediate inroads.
“It’s always difficult to heat up the supersofts … it was hard to get the tyres and brakes up to temperature, and I just had nowhere to go,” Vandoorne remarked of his demise, though a similar result in Fernando Alonso’s hands can be considered improbable despite the stakes.
It would be unreasonable to expect much from Vandoorne for the balance of the season and it would be downright unfair to cast an opinion on his credentials based on his final standing. Ultimately maximising the rare opportunities and having a greater intuition of situations, as Alonso does so effortlessly, will be crucial to standing out as a future victor and potential champion.
He can only keep his side of the bargain – whether McLaren can retain its own remains unknown.
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