A "super glad" Stoffel Vandoorne scored his first championship points with McLaren since the Azerbaijan Grand Prix back in April after a flawless drive at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City.
The Belgian failed to make the Q2 cut in qualifying, as has been all too often the case in a season of massive struggles for McLaren.
However, a bold and perfectly executed one-stop strategy brought Vandoorne into the points halfway through Sunday's 71-lap race, the #2 McLaren ultimately inheriting P8 on the back of Daniel Ricciardo's retirement ten laps from the checkered flag.
"We put a lot of preparation into this weekend, and we knew it was possible to score points here," said Vandoorne.
"I’m super glad to finish P8 and score some points. It is important for us for the Constructors’ championship.
"Ultimately, we made the tyres last for one stop.
"After lap one we were last, so it was a great recovery, some good overtakes on track, which were very crucial," he added.
"Making the tyres last and finishing eighth was a great result for me and also for the team to score some points for the constructors."
It might well have been a double points-scoring day for the Woking-based outfit without the poor luck that befell Fernando Alonso.
The Spaniard was the victim of a first lap incident during which he hit debris from Esteban Ocon's Force India, the encounter damaging his McLaren's radiator and forcing its driver into retirement.
©WRI
"Some of the debris from the crash in front of us – so it was a crash that we were not even involved in – some of the debris flies and lands in our intake, the radiator," explained Alonso
"That’s one in a million. [But] it happened today unfortunately."
Alonso, who will retire from F1 in Abu Dhabi next month, garnered warm support from the fans amassed in the area where he retired.
"Even if it’s sad now not to be in the car the overall feeling of the day will be good in a couple of hours’ time when I digest, because it has been very good support here and a magic day in a way for me," he said.
"Sad now but the result we know could be between eighth and 12th more or less so it will not change my life. The summary of the day is a positive one."
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