Kevin Magnussen likely to be named as team's third driver; Official announcement expected around 10.30am; Sky sources report Button has taken a pay cut to seal deal
Thursday 11 December 2014 10:32, UK
McLaren are expected to announce later today that Jenson Button will partner Fernando Alonso for the 2015 season.
Sky sources understand that, after interminable deliberations by the McLaren hierarchy, Button will stay on as the Spaniard's team-mate while Kevin Magnussen is likely to be named as the team’s third driver at a hastily-convened media event at McLaren’s Woking base on Thursday morning.
“Sky sources have confirmed to us that Jenson Button will remain with McLaren for the 2015 F1 season," reported Sky Sports News HQ's Craig Slater from outside the team's base.
"Our understanding is that he has had to take a pay cut. Alonso is coming in on a deal that will possibly make him the highest-paid driver in F1 and Jenson Button was earning around £12m in the final year of his contract - that’s a lot for McLaren to afford at the moment. Although finance was not the deciding factor in this, and the board had a long meeting last week when they couldn’t reach a conclusion on what was the best way forward for the team, Button’s willingness to take a cut has helped ease him into this position."
Brought in a year ago as a replacement for Sergio Perez, Magnussen’s first season in F1 was an indifferent affair, with the young Dane scoring less than half the points accrued by the generally-impressive Button.
"I understand that Magnussen will be retained within the McLaren framework as a third driver so expect to see him driving in Friday practice sessions next year with one eye on him potentially returning if Button does call it quits at the end of next season," added Slater.
The wait to learn who will partner Alonso in the Spaniard’s long-expected - although not yet itself confirmed - return to the team was further delayed last week when a McLaren board meeting broke up without a resolution on their line-up.
With Button and Magnussen already having been kept waiting for respective news on whether or not they will be retained for 2015, McLaren subsequently said that a decison would not be made until this week at the earliest. However, that protracted waiting game looks certain to end on Thursday morning with the team having invited media representatives to the Woking base for 10am.
In an appearance on Sky Sports F1 last week, McLaren racing director Eric Boullier defended the time McLaren were taking to name their 2015 pairing, stressing it was a decision the team needed to get right for the long-term benefit of the company.
"There is no problem, it is just taking the time to consider what is good for McLaren,” Boullier said on Friday. “Unfortunately I cannot give you any tips as I do not know. No decision has been taken yet.
“I know there are a lot of fans, Jenson’s fans, Kevin’s fans, other drivers’ fans and hopefully some McLaren fans, but it is just about taking the right decision for the future, not only for next year but also for the next years.”
A fortnight after the end of the 2014 season and McLaren are the only confirmed team on next year's grid yet to name their drivers for the new season, the team having originally suggested they would confirm their line-up before the campaign was out.
Alonso is understood to have already signed for the team he left in acrimonious circumstances seven years ago, but McLaren have been thought to want to announce both their 2015 drivers at the same time.
Indeed, confirmation of Alonso's return represents the one known quantity of McLaren's driver announcement and on Wednesday the Spaniard tweeted a picture of himself next to the McLaren-Honda-branded go-kart he drove as a youngster, with the accompanying message #rememberwhyyoustarted.
Alonso’s arrival may also herald the simultaneous arrival of some new major sponsors at McLaren with Spain’s Movistar mobile phone firm having been heavily linked in recent weeks. McLaren operated without a title sponsor in 2014 after Vodafone chose not to renew their deal. Any such deals may also be announced on Thursday.
