De Ferran sees Suzuka as positive for McLaren

McLaren Sporting Director Gil de Ferran views last weekend's Japanese Grand Prix as a positive one for his team, despite no points scored for the Woking-based team.

Fernando Alonso got caught up in an incident with Williams driver Lance Stroll which resulted in the pair both receiving a five-second penalty.

Alonso because of this, could only manage 14th on the grid, meanwhile, his team-mate, Stoffel Vandoorne secured a P15 finish for McLaren.

However, de Ferran can still take positives from the weekend.

"Despite our lowly starting positions, Fernando's penalty and the fact that we come away with no points, it's fair to say today (Sunday) was still positive," de Ferran said to The Checkered Flag.

"Stoffel struggled a little in the first stint, but finished quite strongly to elevate himself to the fight immediately ahead."

McLaren's Sporting Director believes if Alonso wasn't caught up in the incident with Stroll, then he would have secured a much better position for his team.

"Fernando had a brilliant first lap, and strong pace throughout the race, showing his customary inimitable race-craft," de Ferran added. "We sit here wondering what could have been, nevertheless we go home with a better feeling, given that we genuinely beat cars that started ahead of us.

"In addition, our race pace once again proved to be stronger than in qualifying."