McLaren's Vandoorne gets new chassis ahead of Hungarian GP

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Stoffel Vandoorne will start his Hungarian Grand Prix weekend with a new MCL33 chassis as McLaren attempts to solve the inexplicable problems encountered by the Belgian in the last two races.

Vandoorne lingered at the back of the field at Silverstone and Hockenheim, unable to match the speed of team mate Fernando Alonso, his performance depressed by a mysterious issue impacting his car.

McLaren has failed so far to identify the origin of the problem despite many tweaks and component changes, and has therefore taken the drastic decision to replace the chassis in a bid to help its driver restore his pace.

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"We have swapped the chassis, yes," Vandoorne confirmed.

"It's not a brand new one, it's one we've used before but that's not a problem at all. I was pushing the team for it.

"Obviously what we did over the past couple of races, we started to change a lot of parts and there came a point where we nearly did everything we could and that [the chassis] was one of the last pieces remaining.

"It's not easy for the team to do that, especially when it's a back-to-back race. But they've managed it."

©WRI

Friday's free practice will hopefully confirm that Vandoorne's two-race slump was rooted in the car, and not the driver.

"They saw already from Silverstone that there was something going on but it was hard to tell that it is a chassis-related issue," he explained.

"At the moment we haven't driven the car yet, so we don't know yet. But we've kind of done everything now to remove the doubt.

"You start thinking about everything - but at some point there were sessions where I couldn't even match one corner to Fernando anymore," he added.

"And then you know, if you can't even match one corner, you know there is a problem on the car."

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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.