Vandoorne denies Alonso is his ‘mentor’

Stoffel Vandoorne has refuted suggestions that Fernando Alonso is filling a mentor role for him, saying he’s just his team-mate.

Vandoorne entered Formula 1 this season with McLaren and couldn’t have asked for a stronger team-mate.

Racing against Alonso, both struggling with their Honda power unit, Vandoorne’s season didn’t get off to the best of starts, even earning him a bit of criticism from racing director Eric Boullier.

However, of late the 25-year-old has come, scoring 13 points, just two behind his double World Champion team-mate.

Asked whether he relied on Alonso as a mentor in the same way that Lance Stroll did with Felipe Massa, he told Brazil’s Globo Esporte: “No!.

“Of course we work together on the same team and in the same direction. But he does not stand by me and help me.

“We are very open, we have normal conversations when we are out of the car.

“But he is not there to be my mentor.

“Maybe Lance needs this, I don’t know.”

Vandoorne, however, admitted that racing alongside one of F1’s greatest drivers did have its benefits.

“He’s probably the best reference in Formula One,” Vandoorne agrees.

“I have a good relationship with him, even if there is a lot of competition, which is normal.

“We want to prove ourselves at all times, to show that we can get the best out of each other.

“It has been going being his team-mate even though the beginning was a bit difficult.

“We do not have a strong package this year, but it has been positive for me because I had the chance to get quite close to him.”