McLaren drivers target points after top-ten qualifying

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McLaren-Honda conquered its best qualifying performance of the season in Hungary, with Fernando Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne ending the session respectively P9 and P10.

But the news gets better as both McLaren drivers will benefit from Nico Hulkenberg's five-place grid penalty, and will line up seventh and eighth on tomorrow's grid.

Birthday boy Alonso is confident of achieving a points finish tomorrow as he hopes to capitalize on his MCL32's qualities as well as on race-specific conditions.

"It’s been a positive weekend so far for us as a team," said Alonso.

"We knew the top three teams would effectively be out of reach, so fighting for seventh and eighth was the maximum target we could aim for today. And, indeed, that’s where we’ll start tomorrow.

"There are no points to gain on Saturday, so hopefully we can convert those positions in the race and score some good points. They’re very much needed by the team at the moment.

Vettel claims pole and track record in Hungary

"In terms of race pace we should be okay. This is a circuit where it’s difficult to overtake; the tyres are very stable and have low degradation so I think that, if we have a good start, we should have a good chance to maintain our positions – that’s the target for tomorrow."

Team mate Stoffel Vandoorne was a few tenths behind the Spaniard in qualifying, saying he extracted the most out of his McLaren-Honda in Q3.

"We pretty much got everything out of the car today," explained the Belgian.

"We’d been looking strong all weekend, so it was good to get both cars in Q3 and to carry our pace through into qualifying.

"My car felt quite strong – it felt pretty good in the corners. I think we maximised the package we had today.

"But the race tomorrow is the most important thing: I hope we can get both cars into the points. Our pace has been inside the top 10 all the time so we’re looking strong."

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Phillip van Osten

Motor racing was a backdrop from the outset in Phillip van Osten's life. Born in Southern California, Phillip grew up with the sights and sounds of fast cars thanks to his father, Dick van Osten, an editor and writer for Auto Speed and Sport and Motor Trend. Phillip's passion for racing grew even more when his family moved to Europe and he became acquainted with the extraordinary world of Grand Prix racing. He was an early contributor to the monthly French F1i Magazine, often providing a historic or business perspective on Formula 1's affairs. In 2012, he co-authored along with fellow journalist Pierre Van Vliet the English-language adaptation of a limited edition book devoted to the great Belgian driver Jacky Ickx. He also authored "The American Legacy in Formula 1", a book which recounts the trials and tribulations of American drivers in Grand Prix racing. Phillip is also a commentator for Belgian broadcaster Be.TV for the US Indycar series.