Et uddrag af hvad RD udtalte til Ben Anderson fra Autosport. So now what of the gooseberry in the bush - the jilted junior Magnussen? The Dane ultimately hasnt done enough in his rookie season to warrant a race seat next year - principally he still struggles to manage his tyres properly through a race without guidance from the team - but the Dane has still done a good job, and hes only 22 years-old. Alonso and Button are both more than 10 years his senior... Both Dennis and Boullier reckon Magnussen still has the potential to go on and become a top driver in Formula 1 - thats why hes been retained as test and reserve driver. But, at the moment, it is unrealised potential in their eyes. Kevin Magnussen and Jenson Button, McLaren, German GP 2014, Hockenheim Magnussen was present at the announcement of his demotion Magnussen was clearly putting a brave face on things in Woking on Thursday - talking of the positives of his youth and the fact he is still involved in some capacity. Dennis was keen to stress the parallels Magnussens new path would take with the likes of Alonso, and double world champion Mika Hakkinen. I had the very painful challenge of trying to explain why the decision was taken in favour of Jenson, says Dennis. I pointed out to Kevin that I truly believe he is going to have something in common both with Fernando and with Mika Hakkinen. One years testing does not take away the opportunity to race in the future - Fernando spent one year testing between Minardi and Renault; Mika did two years at Lotus, came here, did one years testing then raced for us. And both of course then subsequently went on to win world championships... Ultimately, this scenario was the only way for McLaren to ensure it kept hold of both Button AND Magnussen in the short term, for Magnussen has been aligned with the team since the early days of his career and realistically had no other options. If McLaren hadnt kept Button racing, he would have walked away from Formula 1 - taking his impressive scoring and vast experience with him. Fernando Alonso, Renault, Barcelona F1 testing, January 2002 Alonso had his own season on the sidelines in 2002 © LAT We believe it is the fairest [decision], adds Boullier. Maybe Kevin doesnt have the same opinion, but it is the fairest decision we could do for McLaren-Honda. We can understand he is disappointed to not be racing next year, but the best we can offer him is to be part of the family next year. The McLaren-Honda project is huge and there is enough room for him to keep learning - especially from these two guys [Button and Alonso]. Hes going to keep in contact with racing cars next year, and this experience will help boost his profile. He had a very good year as a rookie driver and there is no reason why he should not be back racing in F1 sometime [in the future]. Of course all this still doesnt really explain why the decision took so long, and why it had to be deferred repeatedly. But then difficult choices often seem much simpler in hindsight. McLaren has made the right choice for the moment - something it hasnt always done successfully on race weekends when it comes to strategy. You could certainly accuse it of grossly over-thinking things, but it got there in the end. Now, the eyes of F1 fans can finally turn away from driver line-ups in Woking and focus on the prospect of seeing two world champions go head-to-head in the same equipment. Thats something every F1 fan can look forward to.
Posted on: Fri, 12 Dec 2014 07:23:20 +0000
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