F1 | Vandoorne: “My goal is not to beat Alonso”

2017 will be the year of the debut of Stoffel vandoorne in Formula 1. The Belgian will be alongside Fernando Alonso in McLaren for what, according to many, will be one of the most interesting duels of the season.

The young man, however, has soundly denied this possibility, ruling out the possibility of batting Fernando Alonso be one of the goals of his first season.

“I get on very well with Fernando – he declared – I have been able to work with him over the last two years and see how he works and how he pushes the team forward. I know very well what he is capable of."

“He is a very competitive driver and everyone knows his abilities. I still think he's one of the best riders out there. I will have an excellent point of reference nearby, but focusing only on him would be a mistake. Our main objective will be to bring the McLaren-Honda and we will focus on that."

Hence the desire to commit 100% to reach the top: “I will give my all in every situation, avoiding making stupid mistakes and making sure I do everything right. When I do this I usually manage to have good results and this will be my primary objective."

However, the young Belgian did not make any predictions regarding the outcome of the world championship and the objective fourth place in the constructors' category recited several times by the team leaders.

“For now I have no real expectations – he said – for me it's really difficult to know where we will be in terms of performance and I think it will be a bit the same for everyone, no one knows exactly where we will be. Naturally we expect to be with the top teams fighting for the top positions and this will certainly be the case. But we don't know in what order."

From here the head goes directly to first seasonal tests and at the first official taste of the track: “Now I just have to focus on what I have to do without making mistakes and making sure I am compliant with the processes and procedures we have to adopt. The most important thing is to be able to start testing in Barcelona and focus only on performance."

Manuel Lai