BUTTON AND MCLAREN
WorldMags.net TERRIBLE
THE RETURN OF THE ENFANT
There was a time when the prospect of Fernando
Alonso returning to McLaren was inconceivable.
But when you think about it, the reunion is
perfectly logical. Why? Because to be successful
in Formula 1 you must be pragmatic, and for both
team and driver it was the best possible move.
Alonso had run out of patience with Ferrari and
burned his bridges with several key players in the
organisation. You can’t blame him after five years
of struggles, culminating in managing just two
podium finishes last year despite some highquality drives. As for McLaren, with the restart of
its much-vaunted alliance with Honda, the desire
was to bring in a top-liner and Alonso was the only
one available. This is a remarriage of convenience.
It hasn’t started particularly well. Alonso’s
crash at Barcelona on the final day of the second
pre-season test left him in hospital for three
nights with a concussion, while problems with
the Honda engine mean that this renewed
partnership heads into the 2015 season very
undercooked. But at least there have been
no signs of the old tensions returning.
It remains to be seen whether Alonso back at
McLaren will work. Much will depend on how
quickly Honda gets its engine up to speed. But
it is worth remembering just how unpleasant
the whole situation became in 2007, when
the team was embroiled in the spy scandal
and both McLaren and Alonso couldn’t wait
to see the back of each other.
The one factor that is not common is that
Alonso is not up against a hot-shot rookie
team-mate, as he was with newcomer Lewis
Hamilton in 2007. In Button, he has a partner he
knows all about and will back himself to
outperform. Then again, many expected Hamilton
to outdo Button and, while the younger Briton
was the stronger qualifier and twice finished
ahead in the world championship, the senior
side of the garage actually scored more points
during their three seasons together.
The bottom line is that Alonso is absolutely
determined to win a third world championship.
He turns 34 in July and knows that time is
running out to do that. That’s why his move
to McLaren has to work.
Edd Straw
35
TEE/LAT
PREVIEW
McLaren racing director Eric Boullier points
out that they will have to work well together (at
least in the short term), or else their personal
ambitions will simply flounder on the bedrock
of an uncompetitive car.
“It’s true they are competitors and the main
competitor will be their team-mate, but they
are experienced, they have enjoyed past success,
they are eager to have success again, and they
und erstand they will build their success on the
team’s success,” says Boullier. “The fact that they
are old enough and have enough experience
means there is a nice connection between
them – they are clicking well together. They
are also at a similar stage in life so they are
much more mature. They are still selfish as
champions, but they understand that to get
where they want to be they need the team
to be successful first.”
But surely, after two seasons racing alongside
inexperienced drivers in poor cars, Button
will have to raise his game again, faced as he
is with a driver of Alonso’s quality, desperate
to add a third world title to the double he
managed way back in 2005-06…
“I don’t think so,” asserts Boullier. “But
Fernando will push him. It’s normal, because
your reference is your team-mate. Emulation
between team-mates is the best thing you can
get in a racing team, because every weekend
they will push each other against the others,
and then you get where you want to go.”
It’s clear that the driver line-up is very much a
secondary consideration for McLaren-Honda at
the moment. But once the team is where it wants
to go in terms of performance on the circuit, it
will be all about ‘Button versus Alonso’ – the
most experienced pairing on the grid going
head-to-head for the first time in their long
and distinguished careers.
That is a tantalising prospect for F1.
SEASON
Testing at Barcelona:
not enough laps have
been turned in MP4-30
WorldMags.net
MARCH 5 2015 AUTOSPORT.COM 35