Stoffel Vandoorne's promotion to a full-time race seat in Formula 1 was meant to be a seminal moment for the McLaren-Honda team. McLaren considers Vandoorne to be the real deal - a young superstar around which the squad can shape its long-term future.

Vandoorne is meant to be McLaren's answer to Max Verstappen, one of an elite breed of junior single-seater stars of recent seasons - alongside Mercedes proteges Pascal Wehrlein and Esteban Ocon, and Ferrari hopefuls Antonio Giovinazzi and Charles Leclerc - considered to have the potential to dazzle in F1 if given sufficient opportunity.

McLaren handed Vandoorne that opportunity after a superb record of success in the junior formulas, including Formula Renault 2.0 and GP2 titles.