McLaren's Stoffel Vandoorne who is under pressure to keep his seat at the team for the 2019 season has been given a vote of confidence by double-world champion team-mate Fernando Alonso.
The Belgian has yet to out-qualify Alonso in 12 attempts so far in 2018 and 17 overall, going back to the Malaysian Grand Prix in 2017.
Despite this, the Spaniard defended Vandoorne as he harked back to 2014 where he remembers beating then Ferrari team-mate Kimi Raikkonen 16 times out of 19 in qualifying during the 2014 season.
"I think it’s difficult to beat me," joked Alonso to F1.com "He always has to be a little bit behind. But if you see previous team-mates, they were a lot further behind than Stoffel. Like in 2014 or something like that, it was six or seven-tenths to Kimi every race. He’s less than that now.
"I don’t think his reputation is going down. The car is what it is. The car is underperforming. We as a team are trying to find the problem and to have both cars in the same conditions, with the same performance. He has shown his talent already. There’s no need for proof."
Vandoorne came into Formula 1 on a high wave of form, winning the GP2 championship in 2015 by 160 points over Alexander Rossi who has since moved over to IndyCar, driving for Andretti Autosport.
The Belgian also stood in for Alonso at the 2016 Bahrain Grand Prix after a horrendous crash in Australia, scoring McLaren's first point of the season after finishing in 10th place.
Alonso is certain his team-mate will eventually deliver in F1 when he gets comfortable with the right car beneath him. "Being a champion in every series before Formula 1, right now in a difficult car with some difficulties last year and this year as well," added the Spaniard.
"He’s OK. He will be very close in performance as soon as the car is delivering the normal performance.
"There’s nothing I need to say to him. For his reputation for you guys, you need to wait and see, or see the result before Silverstone or last year in terms of qualifying."
Vandoorne has only scored 8 points in 2018 while Alonso has racked up 44 overall.
