Vandoorne sparks in Bahrain

Expectations are high for Stoffel Vandoorne's first Grand Prix this weekend in Bahrain, but the reigning GP2 Series champion who replaces Fernando Alonso seems well on its way to surpassing them. The Belgian beat his teammate Jenson Button during qualifying by taking 12th position while the 2009 world champion took 14th.

“I’m pretty happy at the moment.”, confided Stoffel Vandoorne. “I have been comfortable behind the wheel since the start of testing and I knew immediately that I could set Jenson's times. It remains difficult to know your place at the end of the tests because you have to put everything together, but we managed to do it today. »

Jenson Button admitted to having been in difficulty at the wheel of his MP4-31. “The package has better potential. The car behaved better in Q1, I felt I could attack. But then I had understeer. We adjusted the front wing a bit, but then I suffered from oversteer and it's not something I like. I’m not very happy with the result”, confided the Briton.