Vandoorne Keen To Celebrate His Birthday In Style

Stoffel Vandoorne will celebrate his 26th birthday whilst the lights go out to start the 2018 Formula One season in Melbourne on Sunday.

Vandoorne will drive the McLaren car which will be powered by a Renault engine after McLaren ended their turbulent partnership with Honda.

On starting the new partnership, Stoffel said: “I’m really excited - it’s the start of a new challenge for all of us.

“I’m keen to maximise all the track time we have on Friday to work on the set-up to suit the circuit conditions and prep for the weekend ahead.

“We won’t be getting carried away as we don’t yet know for sure where we stand compared to the other teams but now the winter is over we all can’t wait to get started with F1 2018.”

The Belgian driver will begin his second full season in F1 after replacing British legend Jenson Button last season.

“Now I’ve got my first full season under my belt, I’m heading to Australia feeling confident, relaxed and refreshed, and I can’t wait to go racing again.

“I’ve been working hard all winter on my training and spending a lot of time with the engineers back at the factory to prepare for this year.

“Although the regulations have stayed relatively stable, there’s still a lot to learn and our package, in particular, is very different from last year.

“It’ll also be interesting to see both drivers and fans reactions to the very first Grand Prix with the halo.”