McLaren F1 will not announce its drivers before December
The McLaren team has decided not to decide before December who their drivers will be, once again postponing the announcement of their duo for 2015.
The announcement from McLaren regarding its drivers for the 2015 season keeps getting delayed. The team has indeed indicated that its choice will not be known before December, at the earliest.
At the beginning of last week, Autosport indicated that an agreement had finally been reached between the Woking team and Fernando Alonso. The decision now hinges on his teammate, between Jenson Button and Kevin Magnussen. An announcement seemed likely before Abu Dhabi, but it has been postponed.
« Choosing the optimal duo of drivers for a Formula 1 team is clearly an important process, and it therefore requires precise and prolonged analysis, » stated a communiqué published this Tuesday. « This is the case, and in order to avoid diverting the race team’s focus from its primary goal during the last Grand Prix of the season, which is to achieve the best possible results on the track, we have decided to postpone our final deliberations regarding our duo for 2015 until at least Monday, December 1st. »
McLaren also indicated that its development car, equipped with the Honda engine, should hit the track for the private tests in Abu Dhabi the week after the race, subject to final satisfactory bench tests. The MP4-29H/1X1 hit the track last Friday for a promotional filming day, with Oliver Turvey at the wheel.
The team has confirmed that it will bring a series of aerodynamic improvements to Abu Dhabi in order to complete its development program on the car and to prepare for the 2015 car.
McLaren is currently 5th in the constructors’ championship, 49 points behind Ferrari and 34 points ahead of Force India.
