F1 2015 - Teams and Drivers - Who goes where?!

smr said:
What utter tosh, he took a massive pay cut to stay in F1 with Brawn before having any idea what the car was like, could've been a bang of nails again like the Honda largely was.

He also paid for all his own flights to and flew economy class to get to all the races. If you'd actually been paying attention recently you'll have heard the line "I just want to drive in Formula 1, that's what I love doing" over and over again.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/ot...es-15million-pay-cut-help-troubled-Honda.html

"Jenson Button will give up at least £15million after volunteering for a massive pay cut to help save his Formula One career.

The Honda driver has torn up his £24m three-year deal, accepting £9m instead to help out the troubled team. He also agreed to pay the travel and hotel costs incurred by himself and his entourage which could well exceed £250,000 over the course of the 17-race season."

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/formula-1/jenson-button-takes-2m-pay-432056

"Jenson Button's former boss last night insisted the world champion has taken a £2million PAY CUT to join Lewis Hamilton at McLaren.

And despite his admiration for Button, Mercedes GP chief Nick Fry says the 29-year-old's switch is not a rational one.

"There is bravery and there is stupidity and we will only find out which it is next year," declared CEO Fry.

"We believe we made Jenson a good offer - one that was significantly more than he is being paid at McLaren. Everyone knows we have enormous respect for Jenson. He's an amazing racing driver. But we are all mystified by this decision."

http://www.f1reader.com/news/button-money-no-issue-in-f1-future-110619

"Whether I'm racing here or somewhere else, I will do it because I love it,” Button said. "Naturally I still want to earn money because I feel I have achieved and I feel I should get paid for what I do in an F1 car or a racing car, and for what I bring to a team. But I'm not a driver that takes the p***, and I will race somewhere even I'm if not getting the big bucks like a few drivers who are out there. "

So.... come again?
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Such a shame, having to only accept £9m I'm sure he barely noticed the expenses, which I'm willing to bet were a business expense to him, as I will guess that they're not employed as staff, but contracted as a business.
 
Imagine if all of this is Alonso playing hard ball and the result is Button and Magnussen for McLaren, and Alonso gets left out in the cold :p

In seriousness, I wonder if McLaren are now just not bothering. If they have reached a stale mate within the orgnaisation where the board can't pick one, would they just not pick at all, and let it drag on long enough that one of the two drivers gives up waiting and signs elsewhere, therefore making the decision for them? Turning this into a game of contract chicken between Button and Magnussen to see who blinks first :)
 
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Skeeter said:
Mid January? So presumably either all 3 drivers are well up to speed on the 2015 McLaren Honda, or all 3 of them are being locked out of all meetings about it?
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"Jenson Button and Kevin Magnussen both face an agonising wait to learn their fate, with both vying for the last seat at McLaren alongside Fernando Alonso.

A decision was expected this week, but a board meeting on Thursday failed to come up with an answer, leaving both Button and Magnussen's futures in doubt, not to mention how many fans it angered.

Chairman Ron Dennis and the McLaren board disagree on who should be driving the second car and once again failed to agree on Thursday, therefore a decision is likely to hang on who controls the company in the next few weeks.

Dennis recently launched a bid to take majority ownership of the McLaren Group. He currently owns 25 per cent, with Bahrain's Mumtalakat owning 50 per cent and the remainder under the Ojjeh Family's TAG Group.

Dennis is looking to raise funds in the order of £180 million ($282m) to buy back 37.5 per cent of the company, giving him a 62.5 per cent controlling stake.

It's believed Dennis has a strict deadline to meet if he's to successfully complete the deal, otherwise it'll be called off.

Therefore the question remains, is Dennis backing Button or Magnussen? Because if he's successful in raising the necessary funds, then he'll be the one making the decision, not the board."

http://www.f1times.co.uk/news/display/09634
 
I think Ron and Eric want Magnusson, and Eric is just Ron's puppet in all this. The other board members want Button - I could imagine Honda wanting Button but I doubt they really care too much as they have got Alonso anyway.

So hopefully Ron doesn't get the money and Ojjeh and Mumtalakat get a majority vote to keep Button!
 
I meant that more along the lines of letting a driver who won't drive for them in on the development?

If it take until January then you assume that neither Button or Magnussen will have been allowed to work that closely with the new car, as at least one of them will be walking away from McLaren, potentially to a rival team.

The result is that if this does indeed take until January, whoever is in that seat will be going into testing with one hand tied behind their back having been shut out of the development for the McLaren Honda all winter?

I am totally with you though, this has absolutely nothing to do with picking a driver any more, and is 100% to do with the business and its ownership.
 
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JRS said:
I can only call 'em as I see 'em.

He had a championship-capable car in '07, and lost his head. He gets chased out of the team by a rookie (albeit a pretty bloody good one, but still), and has to spend a couple of years in a midfield Renault because no-one half decent particularly felt like breaking the contracts that they had with their drivers. And then he joins Ferrari (remember, the team that gets ALL the breaks from officialdom according to you :p), and still comes up short. Hell, the warning signs were there in 2006 when he started to wobble towards the end of the season and go all Diva Mode™ about how Fisichella wasn't helping him and how he felt alone in the Renault team. It just sort-of feels as though he's a spent force, with too many years to try and roll back to get to true title-winning form, and all that's going to happen next season is a bit more Hamilton-Merc domination.

But, maybe I'm wrong. Maybe the McLaren-Honda combo will be good next year and play to his strengths. Maybe it'll even be so good that Kevin Magnussen could win a race in it.

Time will tell.
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I want Button to keep the seat, and I like Alonso a lot more now than I did in 2007. However, there is nothing in this world that could be funnier than Alonso returning to McLaren and getting beaten by Kevin Magnussen.
 
Skeeter said:
I meant that more along the lines of letting a driver who won't drive for them in on the development?

If it take until January then you assume that neither Button or Magnussen will have been allowed to work that closely with the new car, as at least one of them will be walking away from McLaren, potentially to a rival team.

The result is that if this does indeed take until January, whoever is in that seat will be going into testing with one hand tied behind their back having been shut out of the development for the McLaren Honda all winter?

I am totally with you though, this has absolutely nothing to do with picking a driver any more, and is 100% to do with the business and its ownership.
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Who would they go to though? Thats the thing, basically I don't see the driver who looses their seat having a seat in F1 next year. The rest of the grid is pretty much decided. Unless we are talking about a test seat. JB won't take that directiry, only KMag would possibly go backwards in order to stay in F1.
 
leaskovski said:
Who would they go to though? Thats the thing, basically I don't see the driver who looses their seat having a seat in F1 next year. The rest of the grid is pretty much decided. Unless we are talking about a test seat. JB won't take that directiry, only KMag would possibly go backwards in order to stay in F1.
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Theres nothing to stop either of them taking a reserve driver role at any other F1 team while also doing other things. Davidson is still a firm part of Mercedes even though he has a full time WEC drive. There are a lot of drivers in other series that have ties to F1 teams. Hell, you could even tell it like is is, and sign Button as an 'advisor' to your F1 team while he does whatever else he wants.

I don't see McLaren wanting to let a driver in on the development if they aren't 100% sure they will be with them next year. I think Stoffle driving in the test proved this. I do wonder if ether Button or Magnussen have had any insight into the Honda engine and next years car yet?
 
drunkenmaster said:
......based off random made up things.?
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3/4 of your posts wouldnt exist if you didnt base them off "random made up things"

Skeeter said:
If it take until January then you assume that neither Button or Magnussen will have been allowed to work that closely with the new car, as at least one of them will be walking away from McLaren, potentially to a rival team.
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There isnt a seat available at a rival team (without that team paying off an existing driver, which is unlikely to happen for several reasons that late in the day) - and why would JB take a reserve roll? Completely bonkers.

Hard enough for JM to take a reserve roll (and easier for the new team to justify taking him and making it work financially for them)

What seats are available from the end of the next season for the advisor roll to work - Williams (with Massa), Ferrari (with Kimi, but is a bigger risk considering where their current car is on the grid), Merc will be out for another few years within a week or two ..... - left field chance I guess but very very slim
 
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/30346965

McLaren's treatment of Jenson Button over his Formula 1 future has been "disgusting", according to former grand prix driver Derek Warwick.

McLaren have been unable to choose between 34-year-old Button and Dane Kevin Magnussen, 22, to partner two-time champion Fernando Alonso in 2015.

Warwick, chairman of Silverstone owner the British Racing Drivers' Club, added: "Button deserves to stay there."

The 60-year-old also said Alonso and Button would be "a great combination".

But Warwick, who competed at 162 grands prix between 1981 and 1993, admitted that it was a "difficult situation" because Magnussen, who impressed the team in his debut season in 2014, had risen through the ranks at McLaren as a young driver.

He told BBC Radio 5 live: "They've got a young driver they've invested heavily in with Kevin Magnussen. He's obviously someone for the future so I think it's a difficult situation for them.

"But in terms of Silverstone and British Racing Drivers' Club, our fingers are crossed for Jenson because he brings a lot of people to the British Grand Prix and that's important for us."
 
FrankJH said:
3/4 of your posts wouldnt exist if you didnt base them off "random made up things"



There isnt a seat available at a rival team (without that team paying off an existing driver, which is unlikely to happen for several reasons that late in the day) - and why would JB take a reserve roll? Completely bonkers.

Hard enough for JM to take a reserve roll (and easier for the new team to justify taking him and making it work financially for them)

What seats are available from the end of the next season for the advisor roll to work - Williams (with Massa), Ferrari (with Kimi, but is a bigger risk considering where their current car is on the grid), Merc will be out for another few years within a week or two ..... - left field chance I guess but very very slim
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All sorts of drivers are tied to all sorts of teams up and down the F1 grid without ever sitting in an F1 car.

One of the two of the McLaren drivers will not be driving an F1 race car next year. I am however willing to guarantee that the one that isn't will appear in a garage of another team at some point.
 
It seems to me that they were set on keeping the current line up of JB and KM and then suddenly big Ron managed to talk Alonso into leaving Ferrari and now they are stuck in this mess...

Alonso and Button with KM as test?
or
Alonso and KM and button WEC?
or a big shock and they keep KM and Button and Alonso is just a big bluff and will take a year out...
 
Slam62 said:
Well I reckon McLaren want Button badly, but haven't got any money, in the process of facing up to their financial reality and lack of a sponsor despite Ron's claims . The team could be going into melt down.
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Can't afford him? They're going after probably the best paid driver on the grid. It's all about the power struggle internally, McLaren are fine financially.
 
It's reckoned Honda are paying most of Alonso's wages as it was them that wanted a 'top' driver. Personally Alonso is on the downslope now. He spent too long at Ferrari.
 
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