Abiteboul: Maybe Vandoorne needs a change of surroundings

Vandoorne is 6-0 down in qualifying against his teammate, he has yet to make it into Q3 while Alonso has progressed on a couple of occasions and the Belgian, with eight points, trails the Spaniard by 24 in the championship.

Now with Renault power, after his first year spent struggling with Honda, Vandoorne has not been able to close the gap on his teammate and is regularly overshadowed by the veteran in the garage next to him.

Renault chief Cyril Abteboul is one to have noticed how, the once highly rated, Vandoorne has simply not delivered on promise and expectations, "Sometimes, a driver who needs to change his surroundings so they can get some oxygen and recover, maybe that's what he needs."

"He was quick, he had talent, he was consistent in all the lower categories and there is no reason for all this to disappear, but when you have Fernando Alonso on the other side it's complicated," Abiteboul explained in an interview with Dernière Heure.

But 26-year-old Vandoorne is not paying attention to his detractors and rather focusing on his job, "I'm not worried at all, I'm ready for the day when I can race with a competitive car. Now, I focus on my own performance which I think is more important and that is to extract everything from my car."

Rumours of his demise have not fazed him, "I have a long-term agreement with McLaren, so I'm not worried about that. A Formula 1 contract is still a Formula 1 contract, even if you have to give up, but the team has full confidence in me."

Next in line for a promotion at McLaren is 18-year-old Lando Norris, the highly rated Englishman is making his mark in Formula 2 and reportedly has a clause in his contract that guarantees him a Formula 1 drive should he win the championship this year, or he can walk.

Some go as far as to suggest Norris might even fast-tracked before the season ends should he wrap up the Formula 2 title before the Formula 1 season ends.

Meanwhile, Renault may have to release Carlos Sainz should Red Bull need to fill the seat that Daniel Ricciardo may vacate if the Australian departs for Ferrari or Mercedes at the end of this season.

On the upside for Vandoorne, Abiteboul did not rule him out of replacing Sainz should the need be, "Under the circumstances at McLaren in recent years, it's a bit difficult for everyone, but he is a top-level driver. Maybe one we [Renault] can look into for the future, depending on how things evolve with our driver situation."