The car has been the same since Spain: Alonso

The McLarens of Fernando Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne finished down in 18th and 19th places and the Spaniard veteran was less than impressed with his team's abysmal car performance.

"We’ve been slow all weekend so it was not a surprise that we were slow in qualifying," said Alonso. "We have the same car from Spain more or less so we are dealing with what we have."

"Let’s see what we can do tomorrow in the race but definitely it’s going to be tough. A tough weekend so far. I think it was the maximum today," added Alonso.

The two-time champion had earlier announced his retirement from F1 at the end of the season.

He admitted that fast-tracks did not suit McLaren at all. "When we arrive at races like Singapore or Hungary we score points because the circuits are a little bit more challenging but at this type of circuit we will struggle," said Alonso.

"We will still aim to take points because obviously that’s important for the Constructors Championship. We will try to do our best."

McLaren started out very well, scoring points in many races before problems started rearing its head at Canada. Alonso retired for the first time this season which ruined his 300th Grand Prix start.

Monaco created further disappointment as he retired with a gearbox issue, which was especially heart-wrenching as it was a track which suited the car. The British team has been struggling with a wind-tunnel problem which they have been unable to fix.

It has affected their car development and led Alonso to claim that the car has effectively not had any upgrades since Spain. They look terribly debilitated and in internal turmoil at the moment.

McLaren will be hoping for things to change come next season though. They have a new driver line-up of Carlos Sainz Jr. and Lando Norris. One has plenty of experience at the top-tier of racing while the other is their own junior driver.