In FP1 it was a brake issue, in FP2 he required a new floor; last in every single session and again in the race, it's fair to say that Stoffel Vandoorne's home Grand Prix was pretty much the weekend from hell.

Adding insult to injury, his team was marking fifty years since (team founder) Bruce McLaren's first win for the Woking outfit, while Vandoorne sported a special themed-helmet in honour of the team's rich history.

His weekend from hell on-track, comes at a time of increasing speculation over his future, not only in terms of whether he will retain his seat for 2019 but whether he will even see out the current season, with paddock talk suggesting that Esteban Ocon is to replace him should Lance Stroll move to Racing Point and thereby kick-start a driver reshuffle.

Out-qualified by his teammate at every race this season, Vandoorne has had a torrid season, which even his illustrious teammate, Fernando Alonso, inists is not entirely down to the Belgian.

Aware of the fact that his days appear numbered, Vandoorne insists that the root of his issues is the car itself.

"It's difficult to get a worse weekend," he admitted. "We've seen the performance we have is very far away from being good.

"There's not really an explanation," he added. "The reality is we haven't progressed since the start of the year, we haven't progressed at all compared to the others."

While Toto Wolff claims the Mercedes has many deficits, so too the McLaren has numerous issues, not least a lack of updates.

Looking ahead to Monza, where things are not expected to get any better, the youngster said: "Monza will be very difficult... again, it's a circuit with a lot of straights

"We'll see," he sighed. "Maybe we have a couple of opportunities later in the year to score some points, like in Singapore.

"There haven't been many encouraging things this weekend," he added. "It wasn't the nicest race of the year."

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by Bill Hopgood, 28/08/2018 20:20

"I hope McLaren keep Vandoorne and remember why they got him into F1 in the first place. The car is just not there for any driver aside from the mega experienced and extremely good Alonso.
We often hear that continuity is important in F1 and with Sainz coming in it makes sense for Vandoorne to stay for at least another year to give it a crack.
Norris needs to win the F2 championship and win it well before moving up. He still has time to impress and become more consistent.
"

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2. Posted by Lapps, 28/08/2018 15:27

"Talking a good fight is not the same as fighting a good fight. Zap has disposed of at least two F1 stalwarts who were streets ahead of him in both F1 knowlage and management ability.
He has to go!"

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3. Posted by nonickname, 28/08/2018 11:44

"Possibly the massage to him should be Voetzak
Urban Dictionary: Voetsek
https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Voetsek
Afrikaans for 'Get lost'. (Not a swear word! but rather crude like English 'bog off') Used a lost by Anglo Africans. (Means litreally in Afrikans, 'Tie your feet up'."

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4. Posted by Peter Rickitt, 28/08/2018 9:39

" -But bumptious Brown has a plan - as he ad last week, last month, last year and the year before: his tenure at Mclaren has transformed a fine team into a laughing stock and the shareholders should recognise he has had enough time - they must sack Zak."

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Vandoorne: We haven't progressed

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