BUTTON AND MCLAREN
WorldMags.net
and ready to take on Alonso
After coming close to being dropped at the end of last year,
the 2009 world champion is back for more with McLaren.
But what can we expect from the popular British favourite
as he lines up alongside Alonso? By BEN ANDERSON
WorldMags.net
33
S BLOXHAM/LAT
Button has new
focus: working
with Alonso
TEE/LAT
“What do you mean
I’m taking too long
to decide on 2015?”
STALEY/LAT
not be such a bad idea after all…
But once Button accepted the imperfect
situation, and just got on with the business of
driving, things took a different turn. He put in
a superb performance in last October’s sodden
Japanese Grand Prix, then (once the following
weekend’s Russian GP was out of the way) took
some time off and headed to the beach. He
arrived for November’s United States race
rejuvenated – relaxed about his future and
determined to simply enjoy his racing.
Button knuckled down and worked even more
effectively within the shortcomings of the
MP4-29 – a car that was (arguably necessarily)
too conservatively conceived after McLaren’s
disastrous efforts to go ‘radical’ in a vain effort to
halt the Red Bull juggernaut in 2013. McLaren
undoubtedly improved the MP4-29 through last
season, but admits its potential was limited.
Button, who has often been criticised for being
too picky when it comes to the handling
characteristics he demands from a car, looked
to be finding some benefit from being a little
more flexible behind the wheel.
In any case, the result is that Button now has
a new, two-year deal with McLaren-Honda, and
McLaren-Honda now has the most experienced
line-up on the grid at its disposal. Two drivers
with 500 grand prix starts between them will
prove invaluable for Honda as it returns to
Formula 1 after a six-season hiatus, and works to
overcome the deficit to rival manufacturers that
have already run the hard yards in developing
engines for F1’s new V6 hybrid turbo formula.
Early testing of the ‘radical’ McLaren-Honda
MP4-30 shows that experience will be invaluable.
Amid much aggressive rhetoric about the
potential of the package, McLaren-Honda has
endured a disappointing gestation. It began with
recurring electrical problems when the Honda
engine first ran in the back of an interim 2014
PREVIEW
s the final weeks of
2014 loomed, Jenson Button’s long career as
a Formula 1 driver looked just about over.
Christmas was fast approaching and McLaren still
hadn’t decided whether he or rookie team-mate
Kevin Magnussen would be retained to drive
alongside Fernando Alonso, as the Woking team
prepared to enter a new era as works partner to
returning engine manufacturer Honda. The
wait was long and arduous, and took its toll
on Button, but (eventually) he received his
renewed contract. Now that he’s been brought
back from the brink, it’s time to repay the
faith McLaren has shown in his abilities.
On the evidence of last season, McLaren’s
decision really shouldn’t have taken so long.
Magnussen did a good job in his rookie season,
and he will eventually become a fine grand prix
driver, but Button brought home the bulk of
McLaren’s world championship points in 2014,
and there is no evidence yet of his driving
powers fading as he reaches his mid-thirties.
After much internal debate, McLaren eventually
came around to this way of thinking and decided
that having two experienced drivers in its racing
line-up (while demoting Magnussen to the role
of reserve) was the best move for its immediate
future. On announcing his team’s 2015 driver
line-up to the world, McLaren chairman Ron
Dennis enigmatically referred to “concerns”
the team held about Button last year – concerns
Button clearly convinced Dennis he was prepared
and able to alleviate. Whatever these ‘concerns’
related to exactly (money, performance, both?),
certainly Button looked unhappy at times last
year. After two seasons of driving uncompetitive
machinery (remember, he won the final race
of 2012 in Brazil), you could forgive him for
losing a bit of his cool internally, and wondering
if maybe following Mark Webber into the
World Endurance Championship might
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MARCH 5 2015 AUTOSPORT.COM 33