Tag: Jenson Button

Categories
Formula 1 Honda McLaren

2015 McLaren MP4-30 revealed

2015 McLaren-Honda MP4-30

McLaren luanched its 2015 Formula 1 car overnight, the MP4-30. The biggest development, of course, is the use of the Honda RA615H Hybrid power unit.

McLaren-Honda, there’s a lot of great memories in those two names. Cigarette sponsorship gave those cars from the late 1980s and early 1990s an evocative red and white livery. The marketing spin says the 2015 livery is an “evolved colour scheme that firmly contextualises McLaren’s brand in the 21st century.”

We don’t like it at all.

McLaren had a great opportunity to really leverage of the enormous goodwill from its first partnership with Honda by creating a new and unique livery that not only looked great but also stood out on the grid.

Instead we get this bland half-arsed attempt to blend two looks that was never going to work.

Thankfully, the car itself looks okay, and that horrible nose from the MP4-29 has been removed. Fingers crossed for McLaren, for Honda and for everyone in Formula 1 that the MP4-30 has a great year ahead.

It’s great to have Honda back!

The other big move for McLaren is the return of Fernando Alonso. His first stint with the team was a bit of a disaster in terms of fitting in with the team’s strong personalities. Alonso is a damn good driver, let’s see if he’s a truly great driver.

Waiting for you after the break is a number of videos, more photos of the new car and a couple of press releases for you to download.

Continue reading “2015 McLaren MP4-30 revealed”
Categories
Formula 1 McLaren Video

Jenson and Fernando ham it up

Back to the racetrack

Someone at McLaren has forced Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso to play it up on camera for a pre-season promo. At least we hope they were forced to take part in this Back to the Future spoof.

It’s a bit of harmless fun, of course, and let’s hope the McLaren-Honda partnership is more than a nostalgic memory. Also worth noting the black and silver clothing worn by the leading men.

Continue reading “Jenson and Fernando ham it up”
Categories
Caterham Formula 1 McLaren Mercedes-Benz Video

2014 Hungarian GP four-car quali comparison

2014 Hunagrian Grand Prix qualifying

If you’re missing Formula 1 action during the off season here’s video from the Hungarian Grand Prix that will allow you to cram in four times the action in one go.

Starting from top right and moving in a clockwise direction we’ve got Jenson Button, Nico Rosberg, Sergio Perez and Marcus Ericsson. The footage was filmed during qualifying and it’s no surprise to see who was fastest.

[via WTF1]

Continue reading “2014 Hungarian GP four-car quali comparison”
Categories
Formula 1 McLaren

Fernando loves Ayrton, Jenson loves Alain

Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button announced as McLaren drivers for 2015

It’s now official, Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button will race for McLaren–Honda in 2015. Kevin Magnussen doesn’t totally miss out and will remain with McLaren in the role of reserve and test driver.

Reliving the glory days of the last time McLaren and Honda competed in Formula 1 Farnando Alonso has confirmed his love of Aytron Senna.

“I have never hidden my deep admiration for Ayrton Senna,” Alonso said. “My favourite driver, my idol on track, my reference.

“I still remember, as a kid, the posters in my wardrobe, my toy cars in which I dreamed I would one day emulate Ayrton, and the kart that my father built for my older sister, and that I ended up falling in love with. That kart had the livery of one of the most legendary partnerships in the history of Formula 1, McLaren-Honda, the car that Ayrton drove, the same partnership to which I am now honoured to join, to take part in the next Formula 1 world championship.

“I am 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.”

Meanwhile Jenson Button said it was Alain Prost who inspired him to become a racing driver. And in doing so he just became a lot cooler.

“Like Fernando, I am certain that McLaren and Honda will achieve great things together,” Button said. “I feel sure that, working together, all of us will pull incredibly hard to create a brilliantly effective winning team.

“I admired Ayrton Senna enormously, but, for me, it was the exploits of his McLaren-Honda team-mate Alain Prost that inspired me most as a boy. The way he stroked those beautifully brutal red-and-white cars to grand prix wins and world championships was to my mind poetry in motion, and I have tried to emulate his driving style ever since.

“Being a part of new-look McLaren-Honda is a wonderful opportunity for all of us, and I am very pleased to have been invited to do my bit. In fact, I am absolutely raring to go.”

You can read the full statement from McLaren-Honda after the break.

Continue reading “Fernando loves Ayrton, Jenson loves Alain”
Categories
Formula 1 McLaren

Button v Magnussen: The final countdown

2014 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

McLaren is expected to announce its 2015 driver pairing tonight (Australian time). We can all pencil in Fernando Alonso for one seat. But what about the other?

Button or Magnussen?
34-year-old or 22-year-old?
266 starts or 19 starts?
126 championship points or 55 points?
£12 million or £500,000?

These are the questions facing Ron Dennis and his board. It’s believed a decision has been made. We’ll just have to wait and see what it is.

[Source: BBC]

Categories
Formula 1 McLaren

“Do any of you think I should be racing in F1?”

Jenson Button

While Formula 1 is no stranger to big off-season stories it is still pretty strange that we have no official confirmation on who will be racing for McLaren in 2015.

At the recent Autosport Awards one of McLaren’s encumbents, Jenson Button, was on stage and asked if he’d heard any news from big Ron…

Continue reading ““Do any of you think I should be racing in F1?””
Categories
Ferrari Formula 1 McLaren

Alonso set to push Button out of McLaren

Fernando Alonso

It’s hardly a surprise to learn that Fernando Alonso is getting closer to signing a deal with McLaren for the 2015 Formula 1 season. However, it’s now looking likely that it will be the 266-race veteran Jenson Button who will make way for Alonso.

The expectation is that 22-year-old Kevin Magnussen has done enough in his rookie year to keep his seat next season and will drive alongside the 33-year-old Spaniard. That will give McLaren another good blend of youth and experience as it reunites with Honda in 2015.

It’s understood Alonso had initially wanted to sign a single year deal with McLaren, in case a seat opened up at Mercedes in 2016. It’s now being reported that Alonso will sign a two-plus-one deal with McLaren which could secure him with the Woking-based team until the end of the 2017 season.

On pure performance, Button may seem miffed at being pushed out in favour of Magnussen. The young Dane leads Button nine–eight in qualifying, but the 2009 world champion has performed much better on race day, with 94 championship points compared with Magnussen’s 53 points.

If Button is pushed out then a switch to endurance racing is expected, with a high profile move to join Mark Webber at Porsche his most likely option.

[Source: BBC]

Categories
Formula 1 McLaren WEC

Button to make endurance switch in 2015?

2014 British Grand Prix

Mercedes AMG, Red Bull and Ferrari (we think) have locked away their drivers for the 2015 Formula 1 season, leaving all eyes are on McLaren to see who will drive for the Woking-based team next year.

With the return of the McLaren-Honda partnership rumours suggest dual world champion and free agent Fernando Alonso has already signed a deal with the Japanese car maker. If that proves true then it seems logical that one of McLaren’s current drivers will be forced to make way for Alonso.

Will McLaren go for the youth and qualifying pace of Kevin Magnussen or the experience and racecraft of Jenson Button? If it is the 2009 world champion Ron Dennis taps on the shoulder the BBC reports Button may look to follow Mark Webber into the World Endurance Championship.

Button’s manager Richard Goddard said: “Jenson is an incredibly competitive racing driver who wants to race. He’s too good to sit at the back of the F1 grid. So he either gets a competitive car in F1 or he goes to get one elsewhere.”

Apprently Button’s management has already held discussions with Porsche and Goddard has described the WEC as “as formidable series that is gaining strength.”

A Webber–Button partnership at the wheel of a Porsche 919; if nothing else you’d reckon WEC organisers would love that to happen.

[Source: BBC]

Categories
Formula 1 McLaren Mercedes-Benz Red Bull Racing

2014 British GP: Qualifying report

2014 British Grand Prix

Nico Rosberg will start from pole position after a topsy turvy qualifying at the British Grand Prix. It’s the German’s fourth pole for the year and once again he was lucky to gain a big advantage over his key championship rival and teammate Lewis Hamilton.

Rain was present throughout all three qualifying sessions which meant the times were a bit all over the place. Both Ferrari drivers and both Williams drivers missed progression to Q2, which will add extra spice to the race as they try to charge past slower cars.

But it was the final session which held the main drama. All drivers except Sebastian Vettel set times in the early part of Q3 with the results seeing Lewis Hamilton (1:39.232) on provisional pole ahead of Rosberg.

Midway through the session rain became heavy in parts of the track and drivers sat it out in pit lane waiting as late as they dare before reemerging for a last gasp effort.

Hamilton and Rosberg crossed the line to start their final laps with moments to spare, the provisional pole sitter ahead of his teammate. Rosberg desperate to push for P1 was right on Hamilton’s tail. The first two sectors were slow for Rosberg, but he kept pushing. In the final sector he made up significant time and landed pole position (1:35.766) with a time more than three seconds faster than Hamilton’s who had aborted his final lap.

Other drivers to benefit from pushing right until the end were Vettel (1:37.386) and Jenson Button (1:38.200). Nico Hulkenberg (1:38.329) was the first of the late runners to show there was time to be made up in the final sector and briefly held provisional pole.

In the wash up Hamilton finished in P6 and looked bitterly disappointed with that outcome as he emerged from his car after quali.

Daniel Ricciardo was in P4 after the first round of laps early in the session but chose not to set another lap and he will line up from P8 on the grid. It’s fair to say Daniel was surprised at how much faster his opponents could go.

“I didn’t expect it to go quicker at the end of the session there, as the rain kept coming,” Ricciardo said. “We really thought the track wouldn’t get quicker, Vettel only went out as he didn’t have a time at that point. We have to learn from it I guess – I’m gobsmacked how much faster the circuit got, it must dry a lot quicker here than I thought. We’ll move forwards from there tomorrow.”

The final grid, which has been affected with a number of penalties, can be seen after the break along with the full text from the post-qualifying press conference.

Continue reading “2014 British GP: Qualifying report”
Categories
Caterham F1 in pictures Ferrari Lotus McLaren Mercedes-Benz Red Bull Racing Toro Rosso

2014 Australian Grand Prix in pictures

2014 Australian Grand Prix

Here’s your first proper look at the 2014 Formula 1 cars in action. We’re lucky to get the first race in Australia and this is especially the case this season with such dramatic changes to the cars and their technology.

We’ve got over 100 photos for you to savour and, yes, we probably did get a bit carried away in the Red Bull photo archive. Although, interestingly for them, there aren’t many pics to choose from on race day showing the RB10 in full flight, so you’ve got lots of background material to admire.

Mercedes AMG has also come to the party with a better than usual selection of images as well. Which tends to be the case when one of its drivers wins a grand prix!

Continue reading “2014 Australian Grand Prix in pictures”
Categories
Formula 1 McLaren

2014 McLaren MP4-29 revealed

2014 McLaren MP4-29

Damn, that nose on the MP4-29 pretty ugly. Let’s hope that’s the worst of what we see in the coming weeks.

A full suite of press material, videos, photos and PDFs showcasing the MP4-29 can be found after the break. But what’s just as interesting in the McLaren material is what is not said.

Firstly, there is not one single mention or explanation of that horrendous nose in any of the official guff below. It’s too late McLaren we have noticed it and it is fugly.

Secondly, the name Martin Whitmarsh is not present at all, which means we can surmise Big Ron has wasted no time and sent Whitmarsh packing and signed off on his P45.

This ties in perfectly with today’s big F1 news that Eric Boullier has resigned from Lotus with immediate effect. It’s expected Boullier will replace Whitmarsh as McLaren’s Team Principal; not Ross Brawn, or Sam Michael as one fanciful rumour suggested this morning.

While there’s no official announcement on Boullier’s arrival just yet, McLaren has confirmed it has signed key staff from the likes of Red Bull and Lotus, including Ciaron Pilbeam formerly race engineer to Mark Webber.

Also, last year we were informed Vodafone would be ending its long-term relationship with McLaren and that the Woking-based team would announce its new title sponsor in December 2013. It stood to reason that a team such as McLaren would already have a new deal in place and it would just be a matter of time before we found out who it would be.

Then we were told the sponsorship announcement would be put off to coincide with the launch of the MP4-29 to maximise the exposure for said new sponsor. That made perfect sense, too. But last week the word from McLaren was there would be no title sponsor announcement in the short-term future but they’ve still got heaps of cash anyway so no need to panic.

And yet, with all of these dramatic changes taking place at McLaren you get the sense that panic stations are indeed the order of the day. No wonder Ron Dennis is back in the building.

Continue reading “2014 McLaren MP4-29 revealed”
Categories
Formula 1

Formula 1’s lucky numbers

2013 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

As the new F1 season draws near we can start getting all excited about the numbers the drivers will choose in this new era of permanent numbers.

Former world champion Kimi Raikkonen wants number 7 apparently. But so does Jules Bianchi. A bitch fight to settle it perhaps?

Other numbers nominated to date include:

  • Fernando Alonso (14)
  • Valtteri Bottas (77)
  • Jenson Button (22)
  • Romain Grosjean (8)
  • Kevin Magnussen (20)
  • Felipe Massa (19)
  • Sergio Perez (11)
  • Nico Rosberg (6)
  • Jean-Eric Vergne (25)

It’s not known yet if Daniel Ricciardo has selected a preference. Do you think he will stick with the number 19 he raced with in 2013 or choose something new?

We wonder, if our Mark was still in F1 if he would choose number 2, just for a laugh?

[Source: Planet F1 | Pic: Toro Rosso/Getty Images]