Following months of speculation, McLaren have confirmed that Fernando Alonso will return to the team, with Jenson Button retained for another Formula 1 season.
The announcement was made at a special media briefing at McLaren’s Woking headquarters.
It was well-known that Fernando Alonso will be back racing for McLaren after five difficult and frustration seasons with Scuderia Ferrari. But a decision on his team-mate meant a delay to the announcement on the 2015 line-up.
Debate raged within the team over whether the 2009 Formula 1 world champion Jenson Button’s greater experience should be preferred to rookie Kevin Magnussen’s longer-term potential.
A decision on the final driver line-up had been anticipated ahead of the season-finale Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, but an announcement was twice delayed as agreement failed to materialise at boardroom level.
Button, 34, who recently described McLaren’s indecision over its 2015 driver line-up as “strange”, was ultimately given chance to prolong his career.
The decision means Magnussen, 22, will be left without a race seat in Formula 1 next year, but the Woking team said he would be retained as a reserve, test driver.
Alonso said the discussion for him to return to McLaren began over a year ago. “Over the past year I have received several offers, some of them really tempting, given the current performance of some of the teams that showed interest,” he said.
“But, more than a year ago, McLaren-Honda contacted me and asked me to take part, in a very active way, in the return of their partnership – a partnership that dominated the Formula One scene for so long.”
Alonso added he is excited to be following the footsteps of Ayrton Senna, who won all three of his world championships in a McLaren-Honda.
“I have never hidden my deep admiration for Ayrton Senna, my favourite driver, my idol on track, my reference,” he said.
“I still remember, as a kid, the posters in my wardrobe, my toy cars in which I dreamed I would one day emulate Ayrton, and the kart that my father built for my older sister, and that I ended up falling in love with.
“That kart had the livery of one of the most legendary partnerships in the history of Formula One, McLaren-Honda, the car that Ayrton drove, the same partnership to which I am now honoured to join, to take part in the next Formula One world championship.”
McLaren will therefore join Ferrari in having world champions in both their cars next year. “As regards drivers, McLaren’s policy has always been to assemble the strongest line-up possible,” said Ron Dennis, “and in Fernando and Jenson I firmly believe that is exactly what we have.”
“I can safely say that we now have by an order of magnitude the best driver line-up of any current Formula One team,” Dennis added.
“Being a part of new-look McLaren-Honda is a wonderful opportunity for all of us, and I am very pleased to have been invited to do my bit. In fact, I am absolutely raring to go,” said Jenson Button.
“I am also very glad that Kevin will remain part of the team. He is a very quick driver and a really nice guy.
“Looking forward, I know the Honda guys well, having driven Formula 1 cars powered by their engines from 2003 to 2008.
“I have a huge amount of respect and admiration for them, and promise to give 100 per cent to make their partnership with McLaren a success.
“Last but far from least, I am very much looking forward to having a driver as fast and as experienced as Fernando as my team-mate. I am sure we will work extremely well together.”
McLaren chairman Ron Dennis said the chance to pair proven world champions Alonso and Button was too good an opportunity to pass up.
“Fernando and Jenson have started a combined total of precisely 500 grands prix between them – a mighty aggregate – and have won 47 of them,” he said.
“I can safely say, therefore, that we now have by an order of magnitude the best driver line-up of any current Formula 1 team.
“I want to thank and pay tribute to Kevin, who has done a great job this season and will continue to be an integral part of our team.
“He will be our test, reserve and third driver, and remains an excellent prospect for the future.”
So an exciting line-up in the shape of two champions. Fernando Alonso returns to the team following that fallout over Spygate back in 2007 and it will be fascinating to see how the double world champion can get along with Ron Dennis now.
As for Jenson Button, it seems the amount of support on social media has convince the McLaren team to retain him for another chance in Formula 1. Button has still got the drive to succeed and it’s going to be exciting to see how he will fare against Alonso.
But it’s a tough blow for Kevin Magnussen. After showing so much promising in his debut season, Magnussen has been sidelined to a test, reserved driver. Can he make a return to Formula 1 in the near future? Perhaps but a certain GP2 star is making waves and could take over, so Keven needs to watch out for Stoffel Vandoorne…
The announcement of the McLaren 2015 line-up has been speculated for months and finally it is made official with Fernando Alonso joining Jenson Button. And yet Ron Dennis has commented that he will make no apology for the decision delay. Autosport.com has the story.
McLaren boss Ron Dennis says he feels no need to apologise for the delay in deciding between Jenson Button and Kevin Magnussen as Fernando Alonso’s 2015 Formula 1 team-mate.
While Dennis admitted that the deal for Alonso to return was done “many, many weeks ago – much earlier than anyone even imagined”, he said Button had only signed his new contract on Wednesday night prior to Thursday morning’s announcement that the 2009 F1 champion would stay on, with Magnussen relegated to a reserve role.
Dennis said the initial concern had been to avoid disrupting the end of the 2014 campaign, and then the possibility of third cars for next season had raised the prospect of an Alonso/Button/Magnussen race line-up.
“If you actually look at the hurdles, I make no apologies for the level of consideration that I gave to the decision,” he said.
“We were faced with a remote possibility that we could overtake Ferrari in the constructors’ and I didn’t want to destabilise the last two races.
“We had a very important aero test that took place on the Saturday of Abu Dhabi, and I didn’t want to destabilise that test by having one driver motivated and one driver demotivated.
“Then on the Tuesday following the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix there was a Formula 1 Commission meeting and on the agenda were two or three things that had relevance to the decision-making process.
“As is widely known now there are some teams, including McLaren, that have an obligation to run three cars if the world championship grid falls below 16 cars. So I was balancing the possibility of that happening.”
He also felt it was philosophically right to have an in-depth debate within the McLaren management.
“This decision did not even need to go to the board – this decision could have been one that I took having consulted with Eric [Boullier] and Jonathan [Neale].
“And I could have just said ‘these are the drivers’. But how silly would that have been?
“We function with a whole series of values, one of which is to be collaborative.”
Dennis added that he understood fans’ impatience at the long wait for an announcement.
“I know that the media, fans and other people – sponsors, etc – put on every bit of pressure they could for a decision,” he said.
“But that decision sits with me and I take the consequences of the results in 2015. No one is going to cut me any slack at all if the decision is wrong.
“So I can feel completely justified in taking my time, because while it was a little bit painful for the two drivers, the pain they had then is nothing in comparison to the pain that I will suffer if the decision proves to be wrong.”
Double world champion Fernando Alonso has made his return to McLaren for the second time, following that fallout over Spygate back in 2007. But Alonso says that period was his only Formula 1 regret. Autosport.com has the details.
Fernando Alonso says that he has returned to McLaren to finish the job he started in 2007, having described that year as the lowest point of his Formula 1 career.
The two-time world champion has rejoined the team he left in acrimonious circumstances seven years ago, and he says that the disappointment of that campaign is part of the reason behind him wanting to return for 2015.
“It was not the best feeling in 2007,” Alonso said at the McLaren Technology Centre on Thursday.
“But in all the years since, inside I only had one thing remaining in Formula 1 to do.
“I was happy with everything I have done apart from 2007. I didn’t achieve or deliver the best of myself.
“So now, some years later, you are more mature, you learn things, you understand things you didn’t know at 25 years old.
“Now I arrive to finish the job that I started in 2007. This was the first and the main priority to come back.”
McLaren boss Ron Dennis, who was at the centre of the storm with Alonso and Lewis Hamilton in 2007, said that the passing of time had relieved any tension from that year.
“In Formula 1 seven weeks is a lifetime – seven years is a huge amount of time,” he said.
“I know the media will be looking for any kind of fracture in any part of the team’s relationship, and especially Fernando and I.
“But I can tell you you’ll be wasting your time. It isn’t an issue.
“You always have challenges between drivers – I had them with Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna several times – but this one [2007] got away from us.
“I look back on my contribution to that with exactly the same emotion that Fernando expressed.
“You regret the mistakes you make in your life and sometimes you can’t change what’s happened.
“So could I have engineered a way out of it? I probably could have dealt with it better.”
Dennis added that he believes Hamilton was a key player in the problems at McLaren escalating in 2007, rather than Alonso being solely to blame.
“To go back to that period, you look at this young guy, understandably perceived by many people as the chosen one,” he said.
“But [he was] also someone who had immaturity, and really, who struck the first blow?
“I would say Lewis had his role to play in starting this process which escalated.”
Alonso added: “As long as you are honest with yourself and you learn from the things you did, it’s time to think of the future.
“This is not any more 2007 McLaren-Mercedes, this is McLaren-Honda which is a completely different thing in my opinion.
“Jenson [Button] is not Lewis, and I am not the same as in 2007.
“I am sitting here ready for this challenge because I see no problems at all and I see this as a winning project.”
As for the 2009 world champion Jenson Button, he was forced to wait for ages until the team officially confirmed his place at the McLaren-Honda line-up. But it was worth the wait. Autosport.com has the story.
Jenson Button says it was worth the wait to re-sign for McLaren for the 2015 Formula 1 season.
McLaren announced on Thursday that it would retain Button on a fresh two-year deal as it enters a new works F1 engine partnership with Honda.
The decision ended weeks of internal debate over whether Button or 2014 rookie team-mate Kevin Magnussen should partner Ferrari refugee Fernando Alonso at the Woking squad next year.
Button, 34, will now have the chance to contest his 16th straight season in Formula 1 and said the opportunity had been worth the protracted negotiations.
“It’s been a long few weeks, but sometimes the best things in life are worth waiting for,” Button said.
“I’m not one to shy away from new challenges in life and I think this is a really, really exciting challenge.
“To be involved with the new era of McLaren-Honda really does mean a lot to me.
“To race alongside this guy [Alonso] is a big challenge, but an exciting challenge that I’m very much looking forward to.”
Button had tentatively explored options to continue racing outside of F1 in 2015 but told reporters gathered at McLaren’s Technology Centre that his heart had always been in racing on with the team next year.
“I did reflect on life outside of Formula 1, and it’s nowhere near as exciting as life in F1 from what I’ve seen,” Button added.
“My heart has always been here – to race for McLaren, and to race with Honda.
“I’ve had some very special times racing with Honda.
“We’ve had some difficult times as well, but there is a lot we can do and achieve together.
“I’m very happy to be here right now.”
Button said the combined experience he shared with Alonso would invaluable in helping Honda make progress with the challenge of F1’s new V6 hybrid turbo engined formula.
“For me, in Formula 1 it’s so important to have experience,” Button said.
“We know each other pretty well, and with 500 GPs between us we’re pretty experienced.
“We will play a major role in helping McLaren-Honda achieve great things in the future.”
Magnussen admitted he was disappointed to lose his race seat, but the Dane remains confident of getting another chance in the future.
“Obviously I’m disappointed not to be a Honda racing driver – I want to race so of course I’m disappointed – but I’m still with a great team and I still have big opportunities in my Formula 1 career and beyond and I still have a lot of time ahead so I’m still very positive,” he said.
“It is exciting going into this new partnership [and] even though it’s as a third driver it’s still a big challenge and a big opportunity.
“I see a lot of opportunity even though I’ve taken a step back.”
New stories on the McLaren 2015 line-up:
http://www.mclaren.com/formula1/team/mclaren-honda-announces-fernando-alonso-and-jenson-button-for-2015/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/30430564
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/30436149
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/30435464
http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2014/12/11/can-alonso-mclaren-put-2007-behind/
http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2014/12/11/button-eager-long-term-committment-mclaren/
http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2014/12/11/alonso-dennis-unfinished-business-mclaren/
http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2014/12/16720.html
http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2014/12/16721.html
http://www.formula1.com/news/interviews/2014/12/16722.html
http://www.formula1.com/news/interviews/2014/12/16723.html
http://www1.skysports.com/f1/news/24180/9601051/mclaren-retain-jenson-button-as-partner-for-returning-fernando-alonso-in-2015
http://www1.skysports.com/f1/news/24180/9601377/jenson-button-in-for-the-long-term-with-mclaren-honda-after-signing-two-year-deal
http://www1.skysports.com/f1/news/12433/9601476/ron-dennis-says-lewis-hamilton-had-his-role-to-play-in-mclarens-2007-implosion
http://www1.skysports.com/f1/news/24184/9601609/fernando-alonso-has-8220unfinished-business8220-at-mclaren-and-wants-to-right-2007
http://www1.skysports.com/f1/gallery/12837/9601757/mclaren-driver-announcement
Official tweets on the news annoucement:
https://twitter.com/McLarenF1/status/543003260014309376
https://twitter.com/McLarenF1/status/543003260014309376
https://twitter.com/McLarenF1/status/543036115431989248
https://twitter.com/alo_oficial/status/542996321423347713
https://twitter.com/JensonButton/status/543049496218066944
https://twitter.com/JensonButton/status/543050104664764416
https://twitter.com/JensonButton/status/543051734277701633
https://twitter.com/KevinMagnussen/status/542998183555919872