McLaren F1 hopes to finalize its duo before the end of the season, Button still in the race
Eric Boullier, the racing director at McLaren, stated that his team hopes to conclude negotiations and announce their driver duo before the end of the season. Jenson Button remains in contention.
The McLaren team is in a period of transition. After a 2013 season without a podium, the team is fighting this year for the fifth place in the constructors’ standings against Force India.
Eric Boullier, appointed as the competition director at the beginning of the season, discussed several points concerning the team’s rebuilding on the official F1 website, including rumors about the drivers who might fill the seat of the next McLaren-Honda in 2015.
Precisely, regarding the line-up for the coming year, nothing is decided: « There is still no decision, » continues to assert the Frenchman. « We need a mix of experience and zeal. In these moments of rebuilding for McLaren, I need a boost, so our driver duo must boost the team’s morale and determination to reach as quickly as possible the level where we should be. »
« I have always said that we are working on the strategy for the coming years, which means that we might take on a big name now, or even two big names for next year, or we might stick with the same ones and go for a big name – or two – for 2016, » he explained.
« We are still evaluating what we need to do, as it’s an important decision that will obviously lead us to success in the medium term. And we are in the comfortable position of being able to wait. I know it doesn’t make things easy for Jenson and Kevin, but I have to think of McLaren first. We have to ensure that we make the right decision. »
Fernando Alonso is the driver who seems the closest to joining McLaren in 2015, even though no official announcement about him has been made yet. « We need to see who will be on the market in 2015, but also who would be available in 2016; perhaps quite different names will emerge then. »
Questioned more specifically about Jenson Button by the British press, including Crash.net, Eric Boullier explains that the fate of the 2009 World Champion will not depend on his end-of-season results: « We don’t need him to over-drive to – let’s say – save his place. We know Jenson’s worth and we know he’s of champion class and he has already been a world champion. I understand he may feel uncomfortable and is obviously worried about his future. But again, I am in charge of McLaren Racing and we have to build what’s best for the team, and the drivers are very important in our discussions. Jenson is more than considered to stay with us for the long term, but we are still looking at what we want to do with our duo once all the data is in hand. »
« I hope to make a decision on the driver duo before the end of the season, yes. It’s true that it’s taking a little longer than expected, but it’s still on track to be announced and finalized before the end of the season, yes, » he specified.
On the official Formula 1 website, it states that the decision to hire drivers must be part of a global strategy: « It’s easy to say: ‘Let’s continue with the same driver duo for another year and see what our new engine supplier offers and how it works.’ I’m a competitor—and so is Ron [Dennis, the chairman of the McLaren Group]—so obviously we both want to apply maximum pressure in all areas. »
« Let’s say we will have a big name next year – or two – but do we have the right technical team behind them, the right direction? Is everything in place? Can we be sure everything will be in place in six months? It’s Russian roulette: you only have one shot! If you bring in the big name now and you’re not ready enough, then you start achieving results too late and you affect their determination – then what? So what we actually need is a massive boost for the whole system, and if we miss the momentum, we’ll kill everything. »
About the calendar, Boullier stated that winter should be the beginning of the period of stability for McLaren-Honda.
He discusses the development car that will be used to best prepare for the upcoming season: « To ensure we are ready for the launch of the new cars in 2015, we have decided to build a development car because Honda needs to check multiple systems. We also need to verify the transfer of information between the track and Woking, and between the track and Japan. So, to avoid having to focus too much on these things during winter testing, we decided to run a development car. »
So, what will be the differences between the MP4-29 and the development car? « In terms of the car’s design, it will be very similar to [the 2014 car]. We don’t want to throw money away on areas where it isn’t necessary. We just need to ensure that certain technical options for next year are already on the car. »
« As soon as everything is ready, we will roll it out. We never said it would be in Abu Dhabi or Jerez. » But could the car be ready for the Abu Dhabi tests after the end of the season? « Yes. When it’s ready, obviously. We will make the decision in a few weeks. »
