Drivers still waiting on answer from McLaren on their 2015 positions with line-up decision now not expected until next week at earliest
Friday 5 December 2014 22:18, UK
Jenson Button and Kevin Magnussen may be in direct competition for a 2015 race seat at McLaren but the pair have displayed a show of solidarity amid the continued uncertainty over their F1 futures.
McLaren’s already delayed decision on their driver line-up for next season was put back further on Thursday after a board meeting of their shareholders ended without agreement on what pairing the team should field. A resolution to the matter is now not expected to be delivered until next week at the earliest.
Fernando Alonso is thought to have already signed to take one of the seats, but discussions over whether the experience of Button or the youth of Magnussen represents the better bet in the other seat have continued without resolution for weeks.
On the same day as the McLaren board meeting, Button and Magnussen appeared alongside each other at a sponsor event in Edinburgh, and despite the unavoidable fact that one of them is set to land a 2015 race seat at the expense of the other, the pair made clear their respect for each other.
“Really good to spend some time with JB too. He is an awesome guy and no matter what happens next year, I'm cheering for him. #lad,” Magnussen tweeted.
Button, meanwhile, had some similarly warm words of praise for Magnussen, with the 34-year-old expressing regret that whatever happens they wouldn’t remain as team-mates in McLaren’s race line-up.
"I've spent some time with Kevin over the past couple of days, and it's been really nice doing that,” Button said. "This situation has been difficult for both of us, but we've shown over the last couple of days that we work so well together.
"It's such a shame we won't be working together in the future in terms of being team-mates. But we're both very grown up about the situation and we'll both deal with it whichever way it goes."
The inconclusive nature of McLaren’s board meeting was met with widespread dismay by the media along with Button’s legion of fans, who have already been campaigning on social media for the popular British driver’s retention for weeks.
On Thursday night Button posted a tweet which simply contained the image of an expressionless face, the veteran having earlier told Sky Sports News HQ before the conclusion of McLaren’s board meeting that “I think for all of our sakes it is better sooner rather than later” to have a decision on 2015.
Sky Sports News HQ understands that while McLaren’s shareholders remain undecided on who to place alongside Alonso for next season, they are determined not to let the uncertainty drag on for much longer, with a conclusion to the long-running saga potentially now occurring next week.
“I understand that at this board meeting, the significant board members genuinely could not decide on what their best line-up is. It was the big beasts in there today – Ron Dennis, Mansour Ojjeh and Sheikh Mohammed bin Essa Al Khalifa – and between the three of them they could not come to a definitive conclusion,” Craig Slater reported.
“It’s open-ended as to how long this will take but my understanding is this will not be allowed to drag on to the next board meeting in the New Year. So we’re looking at a period of days rather than weeks and what will happen is those three principals will confer informally over the phone in the meantime and come to some sort of realisation, I would guess in the next week or so.”
The deliberations over McLaren’s 2015 line-up comes amid speculation that changes to the ownership structure at the team are also prospectively afoot, with Ron Dennis aiming to re-increase his stake. The McLaren CEO currently owns 25 per cent of the company, the same percentage as long-time business partner Mansour Ojjeh. Bahrain’s Mumtalakat Investment Company is the majority shareholder with 50 per cent.
