McLaren reflect on disastrous Formula E exit: "It's unfortunate'

McLaren suffered a disastrous ending to its time in Formula E, with Taylor Barnard having described the team's disastrous London E-Prix as "unfortunate".  The Bicester-based outfit struggled for pace throughout the double-header at the ExCeL Centre, leaving both Barnard and Sam Bird stuck in the midfield carnage in both races.  Barnard finished 13th in the opening race of the event, before retiring in the opening stages of the season finale after a collision with Norman Nato. Bird joined the 21-year-old in retirement not long after.  It meant McLaren suffered a double DNF in its final race before departing the all-electric series, dropping the squad to sixth in the teams' championship. For Barnard, it was not how he hoped McLaren's time in FE would end, but expected a genuine bad weekend to come eventually, in what was a flawless rookie campaign. "I've said it a few times this season, that it's always going to come crashing down at some point, and some weekend," Barnard told RacingNews365 . It's unfortunate that this is the one.  "Of course, the pace wasn't great, being stuck in the middle of the pack, especially at this track, and it being the last race of the season, everyone drives pretty crazy.  "I mean, even myself, that's how you have to make progress. Unfortunate way to end. But I think looking back on the season has been amazing. The team have done a great job all year. Yeah, it's just a shame that it ends this way." Barnard crash taken 'on the chin' Barnard's collision with Nato took place ahead of the rise to the penultimate corner, with the Briton having spun round.  He took responsibility for the accident, noting that the blame was more on him than Nissan's Nato. The clash left him fourth in the drivers' standings, but cemented a final weekend with McLaren without a point being scored. Asked if he ever thought the season would end how it did, Barnard replied: Not really, but I knew going into the race that it was elbows out and fight for whatever I can get.  "And unfortunately, when you race like that, the risk that you run is very, very high. If I'm completely honest, the crash was probably more on me than anyone else, so I have to just take it on the chin.  "And to be honest, when you're racing so aggressively so close, these things happen sometimes. And for me to be able to grab a few points or not, that's what I aimed to do in the last race. And that was the target. So, um, yeah, happens."