Vandoorne: Definitely a chance for Q2

Editor

Stoffel Vandoorne was disappointed with his Q1 exit from Saturday’s qualifying in Shanghai as he felt there was “definitely” a chance at a spot in the second segment.

The McLaren driver qualified P16 for Sunday’s Chinese Grand Prix, one of the five drivers out of Q1.

However, like others, Vandoorne’s chances of making it into Q2 were undone by a late crash for Antonio Giovinazzi that brought out the yellow flags forcing all the drivers to back off.

“A little bit disappointed,” he said.

“After practice I had quite a comfortable feeling in the car.

“We did well to get the car out on track and I had a bit of a delayed start so we had to rush everything through.

“But we’re disappointed as the chance was definitely there to go into Q2.”

One of this year’s rookies, the Belgian racer’s efforts were also hampered by a lack of running on Friday as three hours of practice became just 20 minutes of action given the poor weather conditions.

“I think it always helps a bit if you know the track a bit better,” he said.

“But I think this morning was quite okay straight away so we’ll have to see.”

And although there is rain forecast for Sunday, Vandoorne isn’t so sure it will play into McLaren’s hands.

“I think yeah a bit of a mixture is always nice so we’ll see as it is the same for everybody,” he said.