Vandoorne: Tough F1 2017 "very good” for my development

Vandoorne, 25, stepped in for former world champion Jenson Button in the McLaren line-up for his first full year in Formula 1 in 2017.

The Belgian had scored a point during a one-off appearance in the Bahrain Grand Prix last year, but has not replicated the feat in the first four races of 2017, as McLaren endured a torrid start to its campaign.

Speaking to Motorsport.com in Sochi, Vandoorne said he believes that not only would McLaren's current woes not stunt his progress as a driver, but that the situation offered him an opportunity to get experience in dealing with adversity.

"I think it's actually been very good for me to develop as a driver," he reckoned. "Even though it's a difficult situation, I think there's so much you learn from this.

"In my junior series [career], I've never almost really had a tough time. I was always fighting for victories, fighting for championships and everything was more or less going smooth.

"Okay, you have the one-off bad race, but it's kind of a new experience for me to go through a bit of a tougher time, where things don't go as you're planning. There's a lot to learn from that for me."

Vandoorne, who has been affiliated with McLaren since 2013, won titles in the F4 Eurocup series, Formula Renault 2.0 and GP2 during his time in the junior categories – and was also a frontrunner in Formula Renault 3.5 and the Japan-based Super Formula championship.

The Belgian continued: "There's a lot to learn from that for me. I think, you know, you focus on so many things to try and find the details, to improve a lot of bits on the car.

"I think it's actually a big challenge for me as well to work together with the team and bring us back to the top."

No "quick fix" to current problems

Asked whether the team as a whole and himself personally have yet set a target for the rest of the 2017 campaign, Vandoorne said: "I think we're just keeping the same and not really setting ourselves any targets.

"Obviously we're one of the biggest teams in Formula 1 and we want to be fighting at the front, that's definitely what we want to do. At this moment in time we're not in a position to do that but I feel everything is there to be successful in the future.

"Now it's just about how quickly can we get back to a competitive level. There's probably not a quick fix at this moment, but I'm confident that one day we will get the strong package.

The Belgian conceded McLaren's current woes have been particularly tough after the team had gotten to a "decent level" at the end of 2016.

"Over the past two years, it was a very difficult start to the new partnership between McLaren and Honda, and during those two seasons we've improved quite a lot - and actually getting to a decent level at the end of last year. I think everyone was kind of expecting another step forward.

"For various reasons, it hasn't been the case. But it's the position we're in at the moment, the situation we're in - it's not ideal but I think everything is there to be competitive again."