McLaren driver Stoffel Vandoorne feels he is “making big steps forward” every Formula 1 race weekend, after scoring his first point of the season in Hungary.
The team has continued to struggle so far this season, only moving off the bottom of the constructors’ standings at the Hungaroring.
Frequent reliability issues have hampered both Vandoorne and team-mate Fernando Alonso’s progress, which have prevented them from getting the most out of the package.
Vandoorne’s struggles were more evident at the start of the season, but the Belgian has been closer to Alonso in recent races, even outqualifying him at Silverstone.
“The start of the season has been difficult, not only from my side but for the team as a whole,” he explained.
“We have had a lot of problems which hampered the running. From my side, it took a bit more time to really understand what I needed from the car because of those problems.
“With the experience I have now, I’m much more able to direct the way I want to go. The last few races as well have been very good from a performance point of view, matching Fernando on pace as well, which has been positive.
“Every weekend I’m making big steps forward and I’m pushing very hard with the team to get things in my way, trying to get the car to suit my style a little bit more.”
Opportunities such as Hungary have not come around very often for McLaren so far this season, but Vandoorne is hoping for “a couple more” and thinks things are “looking promising”.
However, the 2015 GP2 champion does admit the margin needed to improve remains “big” even if McLaren is making some “very good steps” at the moment.
