Stoffel Vandoorne insists his future at McLaren is secure beyond the end of the current campaign, despite a subdued start to his full-time career in Formula 1.
Vandoorne stepped up to a full-time race seat at McLaren this year after a lengthy spell under the team’s guidance, which included taking the GP2 title in 2015.
Vandoorne has yet to out-qualify team-mate Fernando Alonso in 2017 and has yet to pick up a point, taking a best of 12th in Azerbaijan and Austria, amid McLaren-Honda’s struggles.
However, the Belgian emphasised that his position at the team beyond the end of 2017 is secure.
“I think there’s nothing to worry about,” he said, when asked by Motorsport Week if he had been given assurances about 2018.
“I have a multi-year contract with the team, I’m very happy here, everything moving in the right direction as well in terms of performance.
“I’m just working with the team very hard, which is my main focus, spending time at the factory, with the engineers, aerodynamicists, and trying to move everything in the good direction.
“This is the only thing I’m focusing on.”
On how McLaren-Honda is likely to fare at this weekend’s British Grand Prix, Vandoorne said: “I think from our side we’re just trying to optimise the car set-up, what we learned over the past races, making sure we feel comfortable, and get the most out of it.
“Where it will put us in the order is difficult to tell.”
