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Cape Town - Stoffel Vandoorne's DNF in the Hungarian GP could not have come at a worse time as the Belgian racer fights for his Formula 1 future.
Vandoorne put in a good drive on Sunday as he ran a long first stint on the soft tyres to work his way up from 15th on the grid to eighth place on the track.
Racing towards what would have been only his fourth top-ten result of this campaign, he was forced to park his MCL33 on the side of the track with a gearbox problem.
And it couldn't have come at a worse time.
According to F1's silly season rumours, Vandoorne is set to lose his McLaren race-seat at the end of this season, replaced by Renault's Carlos Sainz.
As for where he could land, he has been linked to a move to the Alfa Romeo Sauber team.
The 26-year-old says he is refusing to pay any attention to the rumours.
"It's F1 and there are always rumours," he told La Derniere Heure.
"I try to do my best and this weekend I am satisfied. I did a very good performance."
He added: "Now I'm going to take a little vacation, empty my head and get back in shape for the Belgian Grand Prix where I'm going will have many friends, family to support me."
