It is not thought the manner of their parting of ways after the “Spygate”
affair in 2007 would be any obstacle to Alonso’s return. The Spaniard even
said after a strong drive to fifth in Austria that he would prefer more
trophies than “respect” for doing a good job with an underperforming car.
Asked about the future of his drivers this weekend, Ron Dennis did not exactly
provide a ringing endorsement for his current pairing: “We are not looking
to finalise our driver line-up now.”
However, any move for Alonso does not necessarily spell the end of Button’s
McLaren career, as it could be that rookie driver Kevin Magnussen is
jettisoned instead.
Despite F1’s silly season steadily gathering pace, Button did not seem at all
concerned last night that the British Grand Prix in less than two weeks’
time could be his last in front of home support.
Button said: “Not as far as I know. I don’t know why wouldn’t they [take me
for next year]. I think it’s just the way it is for a big team. We will
leave it to the last moment to make a decision or to talk about contracts.
“It’s not necessary to talk about contracts right now because they’ve got
other things to focus on, like making the car quicker.”
While Button is perhaps a couple tenths shy of the ultimate pace, particularly
in qualifying, he consistently races well for McLaren and clearly feels that
merits his retention for 2015.
“We haven’t spoken about it,” the 2009 champion added. “It’s always different
but it’s not something I’ve pushed. I’m sure if I pushed to sit down and
talk about it we would, but I’m not pushing because when it happens it
happens. This team need to score good points and I score good points for
this team.”
Button has never been on the podium at Silverstone, with his best result being
fourth-placed finishes in 2004 and 2010.