BAKU, Azerbaijan -- Against a backdrop of uncertainty over the future of McLaren's partnership with Honda, the team's racing director Eric Boullier has labelled the Azerbaijan Grand Prix as the most painful weekend he has experienced in Formula One .
After new Honda power unit components were fitted to both cars, McLaren ended up with a combined grid penalty of 75 places across its two drivers. Fernando Alonso will start on the back row of the grid after incurring a 40-place grid penalty following a series of power unit component changes, while teammate Stoffel Vandoorne was penalised 30 places for using two sets of new MGU-Hs and turbochargers plus an extra five for a gearbox change ahead of qualifying.
Combined with Honda's ongoing performance deficit -- which left the cars 15 km/h off the pace through Baku's speed trap and has been the source of bad feeling between team and engine manufacturer all year -- Boullier said the result had been hard to bear.
"I am racer, so I think this is the most painful weekend I have ever had," he said.
"This afternoon's result was particularly disappointing - we always knew that we'd be towards the back due to the engine penalties both drivers have taken this weekend, but it's never satisfying to be right at the back of the grid."
In the knowledge it would receive grid penalties this weekend, Boullier said McLaren had opted for race setups on both cars rather than chasing one-lap performance.
"Our focus has primarily been on developing a car for the race. While we wanted to go out and put on a decent performance for everyone this afternoon, we knew that the emphasis was always on tomorrow.
"We've seen spills and incidents in every session so far this weekend, so we'll be aiming to capitalise on every opportunity to move up through the field. We are still racers, and we'll be giving it everything tomorrow."