zzdcar
Home
/
Reviews
/
Racing
/
Jenson Button (And Everyone Else) Is Not Amused With McLaren's Board
Jenson Button (And Everyone Else) Is Not Amused With McLaren's Board-October 2024
2024-02-19 EST 22:11:47

McLaren initially said that they'd announce their Formula One driver lineup for 2015 on . That date came and went. Then it leaked out that McLaren's board would meet today to finalize their driver list. They did, and they apparently got nailed down at all.

"Today's board meeting has now concluded, and no decision has been taken with regard to our 2015 driver line-up," said a McLaren spokesman, as quoted on .

Jenson Button and Kevin Magnussen face an even longer wait for McLaren to make its 2015 Formula 1…

Okay, that could be a bit of an oversimplification. Ron Dennis is looking to take a controlling interest in the team, but still needs to secure additional outside funding to do so. Per , the deadline for a decision on that move has been pushed to January.

That isn't the decision that has two drivers' careers sitting in limbo right now, though, and it's not the one that McLaren should be focusing on.

Jenson Button's tweet after the meeting says it all:

While Fernando Alonso is all but publicly confirmed to have one of the two driver's spots for next year, neither Jenson Button nor Kevin Magnussen know whether they will stay on with the team for next year.

Many fans and Alonso himself would prefer Button to stay, as the former world champion would bring a host of experience and technical knowledge to the table that would be valuable in McLaren's first year back with Honda.

Button also destroyed Magnussen in championship points this year, scoring 126 to Magnussen's 55.

Ron Dennis, however, is rumored to favor youth over experience. Kevin Magnussen is only 22, while Button is 34. Magnussen was brought up through McLaren's Young Driver Program and could be a decent talent to continue developing alongside experienced racer and two-time world champion Fernando Alonso.

Another factor to throw into the mix is cost. The younger talent of Kevin Magnussen would receive a lower salary than Jenson Button.

David Coulthard recently in the Daily Mail for letting shareholder shenanigans affect the driver lineup decision for 2015.

David Coulthard has urged McLaren to retain Jenson Button with the British driver’s Formula One…

Coulthard explained:

If you just look at results then Jenson is the guy who should be in that seat next year.

He has outperformed and outscored his team-mate and that has nothing to do with personality or his nationality. But unfortunately for Jenson, the business of Formula One is what funds the sport so he may well be a casualty.

I don't know this for a fact, but there are all sorts of behind-the-scenes shareholding wrangling which is all about funding.

I believe some of the partners already involved with McLaren are Danish companies so they are going to be supportive of Kevin.

He is a nice lad and has a bright future ahead of him, but Jenson has got a lot of public support. He is a well-known, recognisable, likeable face, an asset to Formula One and to McLaren.

Between the Danish backers and Ron Dennis' possible takeover, the McLaren board is letting too many outside interests influence their driver decision for next year to disastrous, indecisive results.

Commercial interests may be necessary for keeping the team afloat, but more weight needs to be placed on the needs of those who deal with the day-to-day operations of the team itself. It isn't just the drivers who are inconvenienced by this indecision, but rather the entire team who needs to know who they're working with for 2015 and how to develop the new cars to best suit those drivers.

Whoever they choose, absolutely no one is amused by McLaren's continual stalling, which needed to have ended December 1.

Comments
Welcome to zzdcar comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
Racing
Ask K-PAX McLaren 650S GT3 Factory Driver Kévin Estre Anything You Want
Ask K-PAX McLaren 650S GT3 Factory Driver Kévin Estre Anything You Want
I love the McLaren 650S. You love the McLaren 650S. Inevitably, you want to know what it's like to race said McLaren 650S. We've got the member of the K-PAX/Flying Lizard Motorsports Pirelli World Challenge team who's been driving the 650S the longest to answer all your questions right now....
Oct 19, 2026
Weekend Motorsports Roundup, Mar. 7-8, 2015
Weekend Motorsports Roundup, Mar. 7-8, 2015
Welcome to the Jalopnik , where we let you know what's going on in the world of racing, where you can see it, and where you can talk about it all in one convenient place. Where else would you want to spend your weekend? This weekend, we're at the ,...
Oct 19, 2026
Jeff Gordon Smashes NASCAR Pole Record At Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Jeff Gordon Smashes NASCAR Pole Record At Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Good news for Gordon fans: he's not only on pole, but he set a Sprint Cup track record for Las Vegas Motor Speedway doing it. According to , Gordon's car hit a speed of 194.679 mph in a 27.738-second lap of the 1.5-mile speedway. I wouldn't be surprised if the...
Oct 19, 2026
Rally Crew Missing For 17 Minutes After Driver Crashes Into Lake
Rally Crew Missing For 17 Minutes After Driver Crashes Into Lake
Rally Mexico has not gotten off to a good start. Ford's WRC team lost contact for 17 minutes with their crew after Estonian driver Ott Tänak rolled off the road into a lake. These pictures are only just arriving on the web from the . Tänak and his co-driver did...
Oct 19, 2026
Driving A Rally Stage With A Flat Tire Suuuuuuuuucks
Driving A Rally Stage With A Flat Tire Suuuuuuuuucks
All of those beautiful rally yumps and drifts rely on one crucial component: tires. When you have a busted tire, it makes everything completely miserable. Ride along with the Troy Motorsports Ford Fiesta R2 as it struggles to move in a straight line on the Scotia North stage of the...
Oct 19, 2026
The MOMO Livery Contest Winners Look Even Better In Person
The MOMO Livery Contest Winners Look Even Better In Person
The Jalopnik Bump lives on! We've left our mark right at the front of the Momo Ferrari 458 and Porsche 911 that received the treatment during the Pirelli World Challenge offseason. Here are the livery contest winners. Ya done good, Internet. Ya done real good. Eduardo Cisneros' GT Cup Porsche...
Oct 19, 2026
Copyright 2023-2026 - www.zzdcar.com All Rights Reserved