McLaren racing director Eric Boullier says his drivers were not "truly able to seize the moment" in the chaotic Brazilian Grand Prix.
In a wet race which started behind the safety car and featured two red flag periods, McLaren scored just one point courtesy of Fernando Alonso's tenth place. Alonso had been running higher before a spin at one of the race restarts left him last on the road, while team-mate Jenson Button struggled with his car's handling throughout.
With the weather conditions providing opportunities and with two of the most experienced drivers on the grid, Boullier admits the final result was not as strong as he feels was possible.
“For McLaren-Honda, this was largely a race to forget," Boullier said. "For Formula 1 as a sport, it’s a race from which we can learn in order to improve the show for future wet-weather races.
“Unfortunately for us, neither driver was truly able to seize the moment – Fernando drove bravely to run inside the top 10 for much of the race, then a lap-56 spin at Turn 13 dropped him to the back of the field. His comeback drive to 10th – passing seven cars in 15 laps – was brilliant, and displayed all his speed, bravery and commitment.
“Jenson was unable to rid himself of the handling imbalance he encountered [on Saturday], and struggled to find any rear grip in the tricky conditions. We will go away and examine what went wrong for him.”
Alonso himself agreed, saying he was targeting higher than tenth place in such a disrupted race.
“I think we were aiming for something better," Alonso said. “I started 10th and finished 10th, and there were some retirements in front of me, so we definitely didn’t take some of the opportunities that presented themselves out there.
“The conditions were extremely difficult. Sometimes it was just enough to keep the car on track. There was very poor visibility and the drainage on the circuit wasn’t great – I had some aquaplaning which made it hard to push the car and close the gap ahead.
:In the end, we scored one point. Hopefully, in Abu Dhabi we can finish the season on a high.”
2016 Brazilian Grand Prix - Driver ratings
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