McLaren and Alonso fall short at the points threshold
With only one single-seater at the start of the Grand Prix due to the problems encountered by Jenson Button, the overall result for McLaren is rather satisfactory, with Alonso managing to secure an encouraging 11th place.
Jenson Button’s race ended very early this Sunday. The Briton encountered many problems during the weekend and was not even able to take part in the Grand Prix. A huge frustration for the driver and his team: “Clearly, it’s a disappointing end to a disappointing weekend. But despite everything, even though I couldn’t start the race, it’s clear that our car is improving and that’s good news for us,” declared the 2009 world champion.
An improvement that allowed Fernando Alonso to finish the race in an encouraging 11th place, even though the points remained out of reach according to the Spaniard: « We were not fast enough to get into the top 10, but we finished the race and gained experience, which was our goal this weekend. We will work on quite a few things during the three weeks before the Spanish Grand Prix, to improve our performance and reliability. »
Eric Boullier, for his part, has mixed feelings about this Grand Prix weekend but acknowledges the progress made by his team: « Fernando drove very well in difficult and frustrating circumstances, and he almost scored our first point of the season. In the end, he finished 11th. Although that is not an achievement likely to make us pop champagne corks, nevertheless, following our first appearance of the year in Q2 on Saturday, it clearly shows that things are moving in the right direction. »
