McLaren and Honda suffer disappointment in Japan qualifying
McLaren slip back down field at engine partners' home grand prix
Monday 10 October 2016 10:44, UK
McLaren's engine partners Honda admitted the performance of the team in Suzuka qualifying was a disappointment, with Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button to start well down the grid for the Japanese manufacturer's home race.
The McLaren-Honda package has finally been in more regular top-10 contention in recent races but that growing momentum took a hit in Japan on Saturday as Button was eliminated in Q1 while Alonso could do no better than 15th on the grid.
"Of course it is very disappointing," said Honda's F1 chief Yusuke Hasegawa. "We expect more, but the car characteristics do not suit this circuit. So it's very unfortunate."
McLaren racing director Eric Boullier appeared less surprised, saying "we were expecting a tough race here", with the fact Honda own Suzuka not holding any advantage for the MP4-31.
"This track layout doesn't suit at all our chassis and obviously on the engine side we are still not on the same performance level as Mercedes," he said. "So that combined makes it a difficult weekend for us."
Despite a run of points finishes for the team, Alonso accepts McLaren's fortunes will continue to fluctuate for the time being.
"There are some races where we will be better and some where we will be worse and this one is definitely one we are not competitive," he said. "From free practice we were not in the right pace, but five days ago in Malaysia we were quite competitive. So there's nothing wrong with it, it's just the nature of the circuit that is suiting our car."
However, Alonso, who has finished seventh in four of the last six races and made up a total of 30 places on first laps in that same period, is still not ruling out a top-10 Sunday finish.
"Hopefully we can recover some places [in the race]," he added. "Points are still the target, even if it's going to be very difficult."
