Eric Boullier 'not excited' by McLaren-Honda's first 2017 F1 points
McLaren racing director Eric Boullier says his team's first points finish of the 2017 Formula 1 season in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix was morale boosting but did not 'excite' him
Both McLaren-Honda drivers had a reliable race in Baku, with Fernando Alonso scoring with ninth place and Stoffel Vandoorne finishing 12th after an additional pitstop.
"The team did a great job and the drivers did very well to try to get the best out of it," Boullier told Autosport.
"Fernando was obviously in a good position.
"He got excited, and he drove very well. He was really, really on it.
"It was unfortunate that Stoffel had to pit for a flat spot, because he would have been 10th with one point.
"Any points you take is a good reward for the team. This is for me what matters.
"I'm not smiling, I'm not excited, because it's not the reason why I'm racing, and especially not racing with McLaren.
"But mathematically it's good for the team to have some results."
Alonso had run as high as fifth despite a host of grid penalties meaning he started 19th.
But he was quickly passed by cars recovering from other incidents.
He argued that "we should have won" if McLaren-Honda had been properly competitive given the amount of delays for the frontrunners and the fact he had been running with eventual victor Daniel Ricciardo early on.
Share Or Save This Story
Krack: Aston Martin F1 team no longer in “no-man’s land”
Gasly rues costly floor damage from Ocon contact in F1 Japanese GP
How an F1 underachiever became a Japanese political player
Eight shock Formula 1 team principal changes
How Honda F1 missed a two-week window to sign Vettel
Why Red Bull's Honda takeover is a gamechanger for its F1 mindset
"You're not allowed to make a difference" – Verstappen says the fastest F1 drivers are penalised
Russell: Data shows software calibration behind recent F1 struggles, not driving style
Mercedes identifies Russell's F1 power unit software issue
Aston Martin's Hungarian GP upgrade is big – but not as big as F1 insiders expected it to be
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments