Stoffel Vandoorne explained that he felt he had “zero chance” of capturing a points finish during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, before eventually winding up in ninth place.
Vandoorne languished towards the rear of the field for much of the weekend at the Baku City Circuit and dropped out in Q1, going on to make only limited progress at the start.
Vandoorne dropped to 16th after an unscheduled second stop when he flat-spotted his tyres, running ahead of only Marcus Ericsson, but the late Safety Car period rescued his prospects.
Vandoorne took the restart from 14th position but re-passed Ericsson, profited from the collision between Kevin Magnussen and Pierre Gasly, and also picked off Toro Rosso’s Brendon Hartley.
The Belgian gained one more place when Valtteri Bottas sustained a puncture, sealing ninth spot, his third top 10 finish from the opening quartet of races.
“This race is usually a bit crazy, and we saw that again,” said Vandoorne.
“By mid-race, I think I was last, and that there was zero chance of making something work.
“But then the Safety Car came out: I made a good call at the end to put some hot rubber on when everyone else seemed to be struggling with tyre warm-up.
“Being at the back at that point wasn’t necessarily a bad thing – at the restart, I felt really confident, managed to overtake a few cars, and got myself back in the points.
“We still lack straight-line speed, which meant it was a struggle to attack or defend in the race, so there’s still some work to do there.
“Nevertheless, I’m pleased that we got some more points this weekend.”
Vandoorne’s McLaren team-mate Fernando Alonso finished in seventh position, with the pair ensuring the squad retained fourth place in the Constructors’ Championship, one point clear of Renault.
