Alonso defends team mate Vandoorne

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13:01, 22 Jul 2018

McLaren driver Fernando Alonso defends the performances of his team mate Stoffel Vandoorne, despite disappointing season.

Fernando Alonso believes that Stoffel Vandoorne is closer to him than Kimi Raikkonen was when Alonso was at Ferrari.

The Spaniard has out qualified the Belgian in every single race in 2018 and has always finished in front of him in the Grand Prix.

Vandoorne was introduced to the world of Formula One back in 2015, but McLaren's MCL33 hasn't brought the best out of him this season.

It can't be easy for Vandoorne, having the pressure of a two-time world champion alongside him to try and out perform each racing weekend.

"He always a be a little bit behind, it's difficult to beat me," Alonso joked to GP Fans.

"If you see previous team-mates, they were a lot further (behind) than Stoffel. In 2014, it was six or seven tenths to Kimi every race. It's less than that now.

"He arrived (in F1) in a difficult car with some difficulties last year and this year as well. But he's OK, and he will be very close in performance as soon as the car is delivering normal performance.

"(There's) nothing really to say to him. And for his reputation, you just need to wait and see, or see the results before Silverstone, or last year, in terms of qualifying."

Pos.	Driver	Team	Points
1	Kimi Antonelli Kimi Antonelli	MercedesMER	179
2	George Russell George Russell	MercedesMER	154
3	Lewis Hamilton Lewis Hamilton	FerrariFER	147
4	Charles Leclerc Charles Leclerc	FerrariFER	108
5	Lando Norris Lando Norris	McLarenMCL	97
6	Oscar Piastri Oscar Piastri	McLarenMCL	82
7	Max Verstappen Max Verstappen	Red Bull RacingRBR	76
8	Isack Hadjar Isack Hadjar	Red Bull RacingRBR	52
9	Pierre Gasly Pierre Gasly	AlpineALP	42
10	Liam Lawson Liam Lawson	Racing BullsRCB	39
11	Arvid Lindblad Arvid Lindblad	Racing BullsRCB	20
12	Oliver Bearman Oliver Bearman	HaasHAA	18
13	Franco Colapinto Franco Colapinto	AlpineALP	18
14	Gabriel Bortoleto Gabriel Bortoleto	AudiAUD	6
15	Carlos Sainz Carlos Sainz	WilliamsWIL	6
16	Alexander Albon Alexander Albon	WilliamsWIL	5
17	Esteban Ocon Esteban Ocon	HaasHAA	3
18	Fernando Alonso Fernando Alonso	Aston MartinAST	1
19	Nico Hulkenberg Nico Hulkenberg	AudiAUD	0
20	Valtteri Bottas Valtteri Bottas	CadillacCAD	0
21	Sergio Perez Sergio Perez	CadillacCAD	0
22	Lance Stroll Lance Stroll	Aston MartinAST	0

Alonso defends team mate Vandoorne

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