Will Vandoorne come back to prominence in Bahrain?

Stoffel Vandoorne could regain confidence this weekend at the Bahrain GP after a difficult start to the season with a 13th place in Melbourne (Australia) and retirement due to a mechanical problem in Shanghai (China). The pilot McLaren has good memories in Sakhir after having shone in GP2 and having made a good debut in F1 with the Woking team when he replaced his current teammate Fernando Alonso.

“I have many good memories of the weekend in Bahrain in 2016, commented Stoffel Vandoorne. A year later, I became a regular driver at McLaren-Honda and gained a lot of experience. It will be difficult for us this year, but as usual we will do our best. »

A circuit that suits Vandoorne

“The most important thing is to accumulate riding. With weather that will certainly be better than Shanghai, I hope to do as much as possible this weekend. It's always useful to already know the circuit well and I actually won two GP2 victories there in 2015. So I'm already comfortable with the track”, added Stoffel Vandoorne.

“We were expecting a difficult weekend in China from the start and I don't know if it will go much better in Bahrain, admitted Stoffel Vandoorne. There is only a week difference and the changes are limited in such a short time. Nevertheless, we continue to progress on the car and Fernando and I feel confident and competitive. »

Éric Boullier, Team Principal of McLaren-Honda, also hopes to see Stoffel Vandoorne shine again on a circuit he loves.

“This race marked Stoffel’s Grand Prix debut which was quite honorable with a point. He and Fernando will be fighting for a top ten finish again this weekend and, while we never make promises or predictions, we hope their efforts will be rewarded. After all, Bahrain smiled on Stoffel in GP2 since he won there while making his debut in the discipline”, underlined Éric Boullier.

McLaren is one of three teams with Sauber F1 Team and Renault Sport F1 Team has not yet scored points this season after two Grands Prix.