McLaren-Honda driver Stoffel Vandoorne says he was powerless to prevent rivals from cruising past during the Canadian Grand Prix, due to his lack of straight-line speed.
McLaren has struggled in 2017, amid a lack of reliability and performance, though Vandoorne crept into the top 10 during the early stages of the race at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, due to drama elsewhere.
However, Vandoorne lost several positions in the course of a few laps and eventually trailed home in 14th place, ahead only of Sauber’s Pascal Wehrlein.
“It was a difficult race, but I think we more or less knew that before the start,” said Vandoorne.
“We found it tough on the straights, and also the amount of fuel saving we had to do today really hurt us.
“The closing speed of the other cars was really impressive, so we were a bit of a sitting duck. In the end, we made it to the finish, but it’s not the result we were hoping for.
“It’s incredibly difficult to stay with the group ahead, and when we can stay with the group we are vulnerable and don’t have the power to defend.
“So we have to invent some tricks to keep the other cars behind, and then it all starts to become very challenging.”
Vandoorne added: “There’s no point moaning about it – I’m just trying to get on with my job – but I just hope there will be improvements soon so we can actually start racing with the others.”
Team-mate Fernando Alonso was set for a point but retired from 10th place with three laps remaining, after which he labelled the squad’s lack of straight-line speed as “dangerous.”
