Eric Boullier: In a position to score points

At the end of a weekend which will remain marked by the spectacular accident involving Fernando Alonso and Esteban Gutiérrez during the Australian Grand Prix, McLaren leaves Melbourne without having scored a single point, after yet encouraging qualifications in the Woking clan. Alonso, quickly eliminated, the hopes of the British team rested on Jenson Button, but the 2009 World Champion was only able to lift his Honda-powered MP4-31 to 14th place in the final.

“My car wasn't too bad,” comments the former Honda driver. I think we had an imperfect strategy in the race. Also, the red flag didn't help us because we had already made our first stop. »

Despite this first blank result, Eric Boullier, competition director of McLaren Racing, remains confident for the races to come. “Regarding Jenson, ironically it was the safety car and then the red flag triggered by Fernando's accident that compromised his strategy. Tire degradation was also a real problem.

We remain confident based on the progress made over the winter, and we firmly believe that, with a less confusing qualifying session and an uneventful race, we will be able to score points in the following Grands Prix. "

The next meeting for the F1 will take place on the Sakhir route in Bahrain on April 3.

Discover the analysis of the Australian Grand Prix carried out by our special correspondents in issue 2055 of AUTOhebdo, available from Monday evening in digital version on all platforms, and from Wednesday on newsstands.