McLaren got back in points in the 2018 Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix courtesy their strategy for both the drivers Fernando Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne.
It looked good for McLaren until Lap 49 as both ran in the points even after their pit stops, but it was heartbreak then especially for Vandoorne whose gearbox seemingly gave way as he lost drive and was forced to retire.
His point-less streak continued for the eighth consecutive race where his teammate Alonso has scored four times. The Spaniard though brought home the car in eighth as he celebrated his 37th birthday – it was also his fourth eighth place this season.
They both were helped by their strategy which worked in their favour after Force India’s Esteban Ocon held up the likes of Renault’s Carlos Sainz and Haas’ Romain Grosjean. In fact, the Frenchman had cleared Alonso on VSC re-start early on.
The two McLarens only pitted on Lap 39 and 40 respectively to switch onto the medium compound to complete the 70 laps. “It was definitely a good Sunday,” started Alonso. “It was down to pit wall, they extended the first stint as much as we could.
“Thanks to that we could recover three or four positions. For Stoffel and myself, we really deserved eighth and ninth but unfortunate problem for him. [I am] happy with points on Sundays when it normally counts and today with a perfect strategy.”
The points helped Alonso to keep himself in the fight for best of the rest in the drivers’ standings on 44 points – one behind Haas’ Kevin Magnussen and eight behind the current leader Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg.
In the constructors’ side, McLaren stayed fifth with 52 but they are now seven behind Force India and 14 behind Haas. Meanwhile, for the Belgian – who is fighting for his F1 race seat – it was yet another luckless moment.
After two races full with misery, Vandoorne had the new chassis for Hungary and was matching Alonso in the race running ninth. However, going as per his season, once again his rotten luck got the better of him.
“It was a really good drive,” started Vandoorne. “We had a great start and a great tyre management in the opening stint and also a very good pace when it mattered around the pit stops.
“We got ourselves in the points in ninth and it was just about bringing the car home but unfortunately we had the technical issue. It is a shame to retire from the race because as a team we did everything right and it hurts definitely not to finish with points.”
