McLaren-Honda driver Stoffel Vandoorne was left to lament a loss of power during the final stage of qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix, as he finished at the foot of the Q3 standings.
Vandoorne performed strongly throughout a delayed, wet qualifying session at Monza and progressed through to Q3, despite Honda’s straight-line speed deficit.
However, Vandoorne finished as the slowest of the 10 participants, amid power unit glitches, though will move up to eighth as a result of penalties for the Red Bull drivers.
“For us to be in Q3 on a circuit like Monza means it’s been a pretty good afternoon, especially as it wasn’t so easy out there and there were pretty difficult conditions,” he said.
“I’m happy with my performance today. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to have a proper go in Q3 – we had a loss of engine power so I had to abandon my quicker lap, and we don’t know what the problem is at the moment.
“It’s a shame because I really think we could have pushed our way further up.
“We could have taken more time to find the limit and taken a few more risks, but we didn’t get that chance.
“With penalties we’ll probably start P8, which is inside the top 10, and we’ve been running strong in the dry.
“I think tomorrow should be dry, so we’ll need a good start and to keep in touch with the group in front.”
Fernando Alonso, meanwhile, will start from 19th place on the grid, following his engine-related penalty.
Discussion about this post