While Fernando Alonso jets off to the United States to contest the legendary Indy 500, former McLaren driver Jenson Button will make his return to Formula One following his retirement at the end of 2016.
The 2009 world champion has been drafted in by his ex-team to race in place of Alonso at the prestigious Monaco Grand Prix. And while it will be exciting to see the Briton back on the grid, it’ll likely fizzle into a non-event.
Former Formula One driver and World Endurance champion Mark Webber believes that the popular Brit is “not very interested” in the Monaco cameo, highlighting his failure to sample the all-new 2017 machinery at the Bahrain test.
“He goes out, has fuel pressure problems in FP1, qualifies 17th, retires on lap 12 of the race. Whatever, who cares?” the Aussie veteran said.
Despite success in the early portion of his McLaren career, Button has been winless in Formula One since 2012, coinciding with the team’s own loathsome fortunes.
As a victor of 15 grand prix, of which seven were attained with the Woking marque, the despondency shown with the state of the team towards the latter part was clear as crystal, especially proceeding the ill-fated reunion with Honda in 2015.
The season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix last year saw an unfortunate end to Button’s career, with the now 37-year-old bowing out acrimoniously following a suspension failure on the 12th lap.
Since then, McLaren have plunged back into the abyss that they found themselves in during the first year of the modern McLaren-Honda partnership in 2015.
Despair would be the best adjective to describe what dual world champion Alonso would be feeling, five races into the 2017 championship.
Having not completed three of the first five grand prix and with a contract up for renewal, it could be surmised that the venture to Indianapolis may just be to sweeten up the disheartened Spaniard.
Reliability in the Honda RA617H power-unit is still non-existent and its pace is many a mile off from even the struggling Renault – which is still behind the mighty Mercedes-Benz and Ferrari.
Perhaps Monaco is the best opportunity for McLaren to attain points this season considering the deficiencies of the MCL32. Though aiming for mere points for a team enriched in such accomplishments makes Webber’s notion of “who cares?” seem quite relevant.
In the end, it’ll eventuate as being a catch up of sorts for Button, with the fraternity he had been an integral part of for 17 years. The outcome of the race itself will be regrettably moot, though his presence will be celebrated one last time.
Even if we won’t see a former world champion in contention for a race win, watching him drive for a team and engine supplier that is synonymous with success around the streets of Monaco will be enjoyable.
Looking for great odds on racing and sport? Get into the action with PlayUp today. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.
Five-years is a long time in motorsport, let alone the general state of the world – especially given the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic…
Red Bull and Max Verstappen vaulted right back to the top of the charts with a win in Suzuka, after his DNF in Melbourne.
Japan Grand Prix has been the most entertaining of the season to date, but Max Verstappen was back to his winning ways.
This season is only four races old, but Fernando Alonso needs to decide on his future beyond this year sooner rather than later. Formula…
It’s a pretty good time to be a Tasmanian sports fan right now. After years in the sporting wilderness with not much to celebrate,…
The question remains where the Australian Grand Prix winner will be in 2025 and whether it’ll be somewhere his value can truly be appreciated.
