Stoffel Vandoorne spent two years at McLaren hampered by a seriously bad car and teammate to Fernando Alonso, one of the top drivers in the sport, the quiet-spoken Belgian kept a low profile while the Spaniard trounced him and captured headlines.
Now as he departs Formula 1, McLaren and heads to Formula E, Vandoorne suggested that polemics within the Woking outfit exacerbated his frustration as the season progressed.
Looking back on two disappointing seasons, the highly rated 26-year-old told reporters after retiring from the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, “From the outside, you don’t always see everything that goes on behind the scenes, all the politics. I can not reveal everything but you can imagine some things…”
“Personally, I have no regrets, I did my job as best as I could, what I missed the most at certain moments was the full confidence and backing from the team.”
Stoffel: It’s time to celebrate a little bit and then time to move on to something fresh
“It is not always easy to perform and give the best of yourself when you know that at the same the team is negotiating with other drivers, but I did not give up and ended my season with some good races.”
Of his final race for the team in Abu Dhabi on Sunday, Vandoorne said, “It was a pretty good race. I had fun out there today – we knew it was going to be a tough one for us, especially without there being many incidents.”
“We fought very hard and closed in on a couple of cars, and that was a really enjoyable part of the race. I fought like hell to keep cars behind! I’m happy with what we did this year with what we had.”
“It’s great to finish the season – we gave everything and now I’m happy to see the chequered flag. I gave it everything. It’s time to celebrate a little bit and then time to move on to something fresh. I’m looking forward to it,” added Vandoorne.