Button’s position at McLaren has been put under threat by the team opening
dialogue with Fernando Alonso, as well as Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian
Vettel, in a bid to bring a star name to the team.
Button, who will race for the 15th time at Silverstone in Formula One on
Sunday, has been phlegmatic when asked repeatedly about his future this
year. It is understood that an option is in place should McLaren wish to
extend his contract beyond 2014, but talks have not yet begun and are not on
the immediate horizon.
It seems McLaren are waiting to see if any of their three top targets become
available, with Alonso the most likely. He has become increasingly
disenchanted with life at Ferrari after enduring five years without a title,
and the appeal of Honda’s return to F1 with McLaren could be enough to
entice Alonso away from the Italian team. The acrimonious nature of his
split with McLaren at the end of 2007 would not be an obstacle to his
return.
Button’s future could depend on Alonso’s mood, with a move for 2016 seemingly
more likely as it would give the Spaniard a chance to evaluate the
McLaren-Honda combination. Dennis confirmed that no decision on their
line-up would be taken until later in the year, as he admitted that the team
were monitoring the fluid situation on the driver market.
“We want to win races and we would always hope the best available drivers
would wish to drive our cars,” Dennis said. “The key word is ‘available’
because people have contracts and we respect those contracts.
“If Lewis [Hamilton] was in a position to drive for us next year, as with many
of the other top drivers if they were in that position, we would love to
have them on board. No one should ever feel threatened, either as a driver
or as an engineer. All we want to do is win and we have to take considered
positions and considered decisions on that process.”
Since his return to the helm in January, Dennis has assumed the role of hard
taskmaster that McLaren have been so dearly missing in recent years. Asked
if everyone at the Woking-based outfit were being kept on their toes, Dennis
replied: “Absolutely.”
On Button’s Formula One debut at Silverstone, with Williams in 2000, he
stormed onto the scene, finishing an impressive fifth. He has not enjoyed
much better fortune since. Button’s best has been fourth in 2004 and 2010,
and he does not seem particularly hopeful of an improvement on that this
year, with McLaren some distance off the pace.
“We won’t get on the podium at Silverstone – no chance,” Button said. I”t will
give us a lift but it won’t make us go any quicker. I wish it would.
“We have a few other things that should help us around there, but this is not
a car that works in high speed corners. Silverstone is mostly high speed
corners and changes of direction, which is a weakness of this car. It’s
going to be a tough race, it really will, but we’ll make the best of it.”
With Button eighth in the drivers’ standings, McLaren are in the midst of
another troubled season. They are currently languishing in sixth place in
the constructors’ championship, behind Williams and Force India.
After a double podium at the first race in Australia, this season has followed
the pattern of 2013, when they did not taste the champagne for the first
time since 1980.
Their last win at the British Grand Prix was when Lewis Hamilton memorably
annihilated the field in torrential conditions in 2008.