Jenson Button

Arguably the best ever driver in mixed conditions, all his wins at Mclaren have come in those conditions. His last race win in the dry came at the 2009 Turkish GP.

Button is known for his smooth driving style and is normally seen in must races doing one less stop than his rivals for tyres.

Buttons also know to be a bit of a practical joker and will take part in anything fun.

Since his debut in 2000 Button has won the majority of hearts in this country. But what is your favourite JB win?

Mine has to be Hungaroring 2006, in argubly a midfield team and he won the race in those mixed conditions to take his first win. I can remember James Allen been in tears almost and that was the first race Anthony Davidson ever commentated on.

 

[cider_and_toast]

Knowing Ron Dennis I reckon more time was spent trying to find out which member of the catering staff failed to align the custard creams at precise right angles to each other on the plate.

It's pretty rare for team to faff about with not one but two world champions.

 

[Tuscan1969]

The whole episode is shocking.

If money is the issue its easy to offer JB a bonus per point scored and a lower basic. That way the bonus can come out of the net prize money that he helps earn the team in 2015....

If its not money then JB is cleary at present a better bet than both Kevin and Stoffel as he's far more likley to be able to deal with Alonso and integrate the new engine whilest balancing all the PR commitments to the overall benefit of McLaren.

So give JB a min standard to hit (maybe a % of Alonso's points) and say if you are above that we give you a 2nd year...below and your out...

JB does not have many (if any) cards to play here so the delay is all about McLaren behind the scenes issues.

 

[siffert_fan]

This is such a strange situation that it is hard to imagine what is going on behind the scenes. Is it all about money? If so, Mag lost a potential big-dollar sponsor earlier in the week which may have changed the equations and caught the team unprepared. Is FA getting involved? I honestly can't remember anything like this in the 50+ years I have been following F1.

In any case, they are starting to look like a bunch of incompetent buffoons.

 

[Mezzer]

Although he's said he'd prefer Button I honestly think Alonso couldn't give a monkey's.

 

[Mezzer]

The Board has closed without making a decision. Button is alleged to have a salary of 12M, Magnussen of 500K. Based on that I'm not sure Button brings 24x the value. Of course Jessica being around would look good for the Japanese market. Hard to quantify what that means in cash terms.

 

[soccerman17]

Was the board supposed to announce a decision today or just make one? And how do we know they have not made one? They could have made one months ago for all we know.

 

[Lewywo4]

Honda's first year at returning to F1, would seems to me calls for a driver like Button. He could help due to his experience with the deveopment of a new car, more so than I think could Kevin. I can understand Magnussen being their choice if he was outperforming Jenson, but that simply is not the case.

 

[rufus_mcdufus]

Ron is trying to gain full control of the McLaren group too so there's a lot going on and presumably some conflicting opinions.

 

[cider_and_toast]

The thing is, if they didn't think Button could do the job they would have announced he was going a long time ago. A vacant seat at McLaren in a car with a brand new works engine deal is a tempting spot for any driver to want so it wouldn't have been too much trouble to attract a replacement. With or without Alonso, they could have let Button go if they wanted to.

To that end, I can only see it that they are holding on to Button as insurance against not getting a final signature from Alonso. What they'll do after that is anyone's guess? Could it be that it's the McLaren board stalling over Alonso? After all, he's painted himself right into the corner now. It's either McLaren or at least a year out. There's nothing to say that both Mercedes drivers will find their happy places next season, re-kindle their bromance and dominate the sport happily ever after. Then where would that leave Alonso?

 

[Mephistopheles]

I always thought that it was Eric that wanted to keep Button but notebook Ted said Eric wanted rid of him which now confuses me because in my view it is Ron that doesn't want him...

 

[Titch]

The meeting today made no decision on the driver lineup. Official.

I hope they all rot in hell.

 

[Kewee]

The only people that have reason to be peeved are Button and Magnussen. They seem to be dealing with ok, maybe we should too, after all we're only annoyed due to our impatience. Common sense tells me if they were going to sign Magnussen they would have announced it a couple of months ago. I hope they re-sign Button but my gut feeling is very different to common sense. Ron Dennis for whatever reason seems to be attracted to Scandinavian drivers, that and the financial considerations may play out against Button which would be a great pity for the fans and other top drivers who want him in F1 in 2015. It would be fantastic for the sport to see an Alonso and Button pairing though I'm not sure that will be part of Ron Dennis's thinking unfortunately.

 

[racecub]

From what I've picked up reading around this topic ( sorry no sources, bits from everywhere) is that Ron doesn't want Button but the board on the whole do. Since his return Ron is fighting to regain more control and I read he's just paid 30 mil to extend his buyout deadline until January.
From that info I can only assume he's stalling the decision until he's in a position to get what he wants.

 

[rufus_mcdufus]

How do we actually know Ron doesn't want Button? I haven't seen anything concrete stating this.

 

[racecub]

People are surmising that I think. There's a bit about it here.
http://www.jamesallenonf1.com/2014/...g-fails-to-decide-on-driver-line-up-for-2015/

 

[Kewee]

Because he loves Scandinavian drivers. The day he came back into prominence in the F1 team I had a gut feeling it would be the end of Buttons McLaren career. I hope I'm wrong.

 

[rufus_mcdufus]

Ah OK, thanks for that.

 

[Incubus]

Well exactly rufus_mcdufus !, We know absolutely nothing about anything regarding McLaren's behind-the-scenes activities yet any old unsubstantiated rumours have been taken as fact on here and elsewhere. About which team-mate Alonso (who hasn't even been confirmed yet) wants, the balance of powwer at McLaren, Honda's influence etc... none of which has even been publicly discussed by any of the interested parties....

Incredible the amount of certainties uttered by almost everyone that are based on absolutely nothing except pure speculation propagated by the world and its sister.

 

[Kewee]

My comments are based on the number of Scandinavian drivers McLaren have hired and in case it's gone over some peoples heads, numerous truckloads of humour that obviously might be too subtile for some to have noticed. Maybe I need to start using these again.

 

[Kewee]

Although he's said he'd prefer Button I honestly think Alonso couldn't give a monkey's.

I'm not so sure Mezzer. After spending 5 years with a team that should have delivered but failed, Alonso probably wants to see as many positives as possible relating to car development. Working with Button could speed up development significantly.