McLaren is a name that is synonymous with success in Formula One. Their impeccable record since debuting in 1966 stands at twelve drivers’ championships and eight constructors’ championships, putting them behind only Ferrari in the drivers’ tally and both Ferrari and Williams in the constructors’ standings.
For 2014, a vast number of changes were made within McLaren to rectify the wrongs of the previous season. Ron Dennis resumed his role of Group CEO, which saw his former protégé Martin Whitmarsh being shown the door. Whitmarsh who was also the team principal of McLaren up until the end of 2013 had that role taken away from him too.
Eric Boullier from brought in from Lotus to assume the role of racing director, while essentially is the same position in which Whitmarsh was incumbent. And Sergio Perez after just a single season with the team was replaced by Kevin Magnussen, a driver from McLaren’s junior division.
But the biggest change for McLaren is set to come next year, in 2015 when they reunite with Honda. The Japanese automaker is to exclusively supply McLaren with their rendition of the new hybrid 1.6 litre turbocharged V6 power-unit next year.
This is a change that could potentially lift McLaren back into that circle in which they have been absent since at the end of 2012 and that is why at the moment, the team effectively holds the key to this year’s ‘silly season’.
Dennis on a few occasions this year has expressed his desire to see Fernando Alonso, Sebastian Vettel or even Lewis Hamilton in a McLaren car next year, leaving the current driver’s respective futures hanging in the balance.
The problem with chasing anyone of these ‘superstar’ drivers for a drive in 2015 is that they are all currently under contract. This is something that Dennis has said that he respects and claims the drivers he is after ‘have to be available’ first before he’d pursue them for contractual talks.
Alonso’s contract with Ferrari expires at the end of 2016, meaning that he still has two full campaigns with the Scuderia ahead of him, unless he decides to walk away himself. The Spaniard and two-time world champion has insisted that his heart is still with Ferrari and that winning a championship in a Ferrari is his goal.
Four-time world champion Vettel has seemingly had an underwhelming season thus far, struggling to get to grips with the new Red Bull chassis, while his teammate Daniel Ricciardo won three races. Vettel is another driver who within two years could be on the move from his home that is Red Bull and McLaren certainly have an eye on him.
Finally, Hamilton who was the prodigal son of McLaren until he left at the end of 2012 is also supposedly getting calls from his old team to come home. There is a possibility of this occurring with the current friction within the Mercedes AMG squad. A disgruntled Hamilton may walk away if he continues to see Nico Rosberg excel in comparison to him.
These are probable contenders who could potentially end up with the Honda powered McLaren team, if course the superiors feel that they can oust their current drivers for either of them.
For Jenson Button this could potentially mean the end of his long and arduous career in Formula One, which saw him win the 2009 world championship with Brawn GP. At the ripe age of 34, Button is currently the oldest driver on the grid and while he still has plenty to offer a team which has a capable car, there may not be a seat available to him if McLaren decide to wave goodbye.
Young Magnussen also faces the prospect of being demoted just after a single season in the sport, which for a young driver would absolutely shatter one’s self confidence.
However there is no guarantee that the McLaren-Honda chassis in 2015 will be quick straight off the bat, hence why it could be beneficial for the team to retain the current drivers in order to aid in the development of the car.
At the moment the major issue for the team seems to be aerodynamics and even with the powerful Mercedes-Benz unit on-board this year, the team are still the weakest out of all the Mercedes-Benz powered runners.
And that leads to the final point to which the team need to adhere too before making wholesale driver changes and that is the makeup of the squad internally. Do the team have the best engineers available? The best managers?
Drivers may be the face of a team and deliver the results where it matters but a successful team needs all their cogs to be operating harmoniously and flawlessly, something which McLaren have been exceptional at in the past.
So while a ‘superstar’ driver in the form of an Alonso, Vettel or Hamilton would be excellent to propel McLaren into the winners circle again, the real rectifications must begin internally so that whoever drives the car (even the current drivers) are driving a race winning machine and not something which struggles to collect mere points.
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