autoevolution
 

2015 McLaren-Honda F1 Driver Lineup - Alonso and Button Join Forces, Magnussen Now a Test Driver

Ever since Sebastian Vettel announced he will jump ship to Scuderia Ferrari for next year’s season, all eyes were on Fernando Alonso and the imminent announcement about his change of heart. Now it’s finally official - the Spaniard will join Jenson Button at McLaren-Honda for the 2015 Formula 1 season.
2015 McLaren-Honda drivers: Fernando Alonso, Jenson Button, Kevin Magnussen (test and reserve driver) 1 photo
Photo: McLaren-Honda
Just a few moments ago, Ron Dennis announced at an event held at the McLaren Technology Centre that the two most experienced drivers on the grid will run for the racing outfit next year. We don’t even want to imagine how much money McLaren-Honda sourced for Alonso. Furthermore, Button is also one of the most expensive drivers on the grid nowadays.

As for rookie Kevin Magnussen, the 22-year-old Danish youngster has been downgraded to play the unfulfilling roles of reserve and test driver. Although he managed to win 55 points throughout his first season in F1, McLaren thought that Button’s experience and 126 points in 2014 were better assets.

“All three men will play crucial roles in re-establishing the ascendancy of one of global sport’s most iconic unions, for McLaren and Honda have already formed one of the most dominant partnerships in motorsport history,” reads a statement from McLaren-Honda. Yes, they’re referring to the Senna-Prost era of the late ‘80s again and again because McLaren hasn’t got anything to boast about regarding the team’s most recent results.

Alonso declared that he’s “joining this project with enormous enthusiasm and determination, knowing that it may require some time to achieve the results we are aiming for, which is no problem for me,” which tells us that the Honda hybrid power unit needs a lot of tuning until it becomes competitive. Jenson Button added that he’s “very glad that Kevin will remain part of the team. He is a very quick driver and a really nice guy.”
If you liked the article, please follow us:  Google News icon Google News Youtube Instagram X (Twitter)
press release
About the author: Mircea Panait
Mircea Panait profile photo

After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well.
Full profile

 

Would you like AUTOEVOLUTION to send you notifications?

You will only receive our top stories