McLaren could oust Jenson Button at the end of 2014 and replace him with the team's next young development driver talent. That is the admission of returned McLaren supremo Ron Dennis, who told F1's official website that it was mainly his decision to axe Sergio Perez after a single season and replace him with in-house rookie Kevin Magnussen.
Dane Magnussen, 21, has subsequently been hailed by Dennis as having "all the ingredients necessary" to follow in Button's footsteps and win a title. "The decision to take Kevin (in 2014) was mine," said Dennis. "I took the decision because I felt that we needed to see if he could meet the expectations of our engineers, and so far he has done a great job. And also Stoffel Vandoorne did a great job last weekend in Bahrain, so I think he will be highly desirable by the end of the season."
Belgian Vandoorne, who is actually a year older than Magnussen, has this year been placed by McLaren in GP2, where at the Bahrain season opener he won a race. Vandoorne is driving for ART, after Nicolas Todt's GP2 team entered an agreement to work not only with McLaren but also the team's 2015 engine supplier Honda.
At the same time, Button's contract is up for renewal. The 34-year-old driver said in Bahrain: "I have no worries that a guy in his thirties is as good as a guy in his twenties in a formula one car."
Nonetheless, Dennis admitted it is "possible" McLaren's 2015 lineup could see Magnussen alongside Vandoorne. "Anything is possible," he said, "but Jenson is doing a great job. He is quick and he is dedicated so there is no reason not to stay with Jenson from any perspective. But we still have a whole season to go." (GMM)
Vandoorne highly desirable by end of the season - Dennis
- Published on 14 Apr 2014 16:59
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- By: Rob Veenstra
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Driver profile
- Team McLaren
- Points 37
- Podiums 0
- Grand Prix 41
- Country GB
- Date of b. Jan 19 1980 (46)
- Place of b. Frome, Somerset, GB
- Weight 72 kg
- Length 1.82 m
- 67,087 comments on McLaren
23 members have this team as their favourite
Tweets about Jenson Button
Team profile
- Team name McLaren
- Base Woking, United Kingdom
- Jenson Button 1
- Lewis Hamilton 1
- Fernando Alonso 1
- Niki Lauda 1
- Stoffel Vandoorne 2
- Lewis Hamilton 2
- Lewis Hamilton 2
- Gerhard Berger 2
- Daniel Ricciardo 3
- Jenson Button 3
- Lewis Hamilton 3
- Kimi Räikkönen 3
- Mika Häkkinen 3
- Lando Norris 4
- Lewis Hamilton 4
- Jenson Button 4
- Kimi Räikkönen 4
- Jenson Button 5
- Sergio Perez 6
- Kimi Räikkönen 6
- Kimi Räikkönen 6
- Niki Lauda 8
- Alain Prost 8
- Kimi Räikkönen 9
- Fernando Alonso 14
- Kevin Magnussen 20
- Jenson Button 22
- Lewis Hamilton 22
- Gerhard Berger 28
- Stoffel Vandoorne 47
- Carlos Sainz jr 55
- Oscar Piastri 81
- 305,225 comments on McLaren
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