It hadn't been looking very promising for McLaren going into Sunday's Azerbaijan Grand Prix, after the team's worst qualifying of the 2018 season so far. But once again, drivers Fernando Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne proved adept at snatching success from the jaws of seemingly certain failure in Baku.
Starting from 12th place on the grid, Alonso survived a first lap clash with Williams Sergey Sirotkin to battle his way back to seventh place at the chequered flag.
“Today’s race was very complicated, right from the very first lap," said Alonso after the finish.
“The first lap in the midfield is the same old story; people preferring to crash into other cars rather than lifting off," he complained. “On that opening lap, my car was heavily damaged. I had two punctures, with one flat tyre damaging the floor. I also had a damaged front and rear wing.
“I really thought that would be the end of my race," he admitted. "But after the team fitted a new front wing and fresh tyres, I went back out, fought all race long, and actually found the car to be quite competitive.
“We were able to overtake a Sauber and a Renault thanks to the Safety Car," he added. "[That] enabled us to recover a couple of positions.
“I’m happy with the points. It was probably one of the best races that I’ve done in a long time, or the best race of my life.”
However, the chronic problem with the team's qualifying performance continues to hold them back. "It’s up to us to qualify further towards the front, where it’s usually a little bit cleaner."
Alonso's team mate Vandoorne was in last place with just four laps to go, but was able to use the chaos of the Baku street circuit to finish in ninth. That made it another double points finish of the year, their third in four races.
“What a mad afternoon!" Vandoorne said, sounding slightly stunned by the day's events. "This race is usually a bit crazy, and we saw that again today.
“By mid-race, I think I was last, and there was zero chance of making something work.
"But then the Safety Car came out," he explained. "I made a good call at the end to put some hot rubber on when everyone else seemed to be struggling with tyre warm-up.
"Being at the back at that point wasn’t necessarily a bad thing," he continued. "At the restart, I felt really confident, managed to overtake a few cars, and got myself back in the points.
“We still lack straight-line speed, which meant it was a struggle to attack or defend in the race, so there’s still some work to do there.
"Nevertheless, I’m pleased that we got some more points this weekend.”
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