Formula One’s worst-kept secret has at last been realised, with confirmation that Fernando Alonso is rejoining McLaren.
The Spaniard will spearhead the Woking squad’s renewed collaboration with Honda, while Jenson Button has been retained, following much deliberation over the Briton and his 2014 teammate, Kevin Magnussen.
Alonso returns to McLaren seven years after his sole, acrimonious 2007 campaign, having failed to add to his 2005 and 2006 titles throughout his five-year Ferrari tenure.
Button – the 2009 World Champion, will embark on his sixth campaign with the outfit – his sixteenth in the sport, with the line-up mirroring Ferrari in boasting a champion on either side of the garage.
The result of this announcement is a combined 500 Grands Prix in experience. Taking into account McLaren’s recent campaigns, coupled with the conclusion of a two-decade partnership with Mercedes in favour of Honda, the decision can’t be frowned upon.
Ron Dennis – utilising his finest, infamous Ronspeak, remarked “we now have by an order of magnitude the best driver line-up of any current Formula One team.”
It’s certainly a more compelling notion than Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Räikkönen, on the basis of their most recent campaigns and immediate prospects of flourishing in the abyss which Maranello currently represents.
There will be those who claim that Kevin Magnussen is desperately unlucky – he was until recently viewed as a certainty to stay on next season – yet it may just transpire to be the best outcome.
It takes time for relationships – regardless of history, to blossom. The McLaren-Honda combination which dominated the sport a quarter of a century ago bares no relevance to today.
There are no guarantees that the initial McLaren-Honda output will yield an improvement on the MP4-29. A second campaign for Magnussen at the wheel of a handful could have been detrimental to his long-term prospects, on a personal and prospective employer level.
His retention as a test and reserve driver could be perceived as a token gesture, but the reality is that he’s a solid chance to regain a race seat in 2016.
Button could well be content that the extra season his second unexpected reprieve has granted, and decide the time is right for a WEC switch.
As for Alonso – he’d never depart McLaren after one season, surely? Yet, it did happen last time, so…
Ostensibly, the issues which plagued the Spaniard’s initial stint at Woking have been addressed to a manageable degree otherwise he’d never have made the return which appeared so inconceivable just months ago.
Whether this entails Ron Dennis taking a step back from day to day operations of the racing division once more, or whether both individuals have agreed to let not past differences affect the future vision for restoring McLaren to glory, will be known in relatively short order.
Pending Caterham’s presence on the grid in 2015, the line-ups for all confirmed outfits is now set.
Mercedes: Lewis Hamilton, Nico Rosberg
Red Bull Renault: Daniel Ricciardo, Daniil Kvyat
Williams Mercedes: Valtteri Bottas, Felipe Massa
Ferrari: Sebastian Vettel, Kimi Räikkönen
McLaren Honda: Fernando Alonso, Jenson Button
Force India Mercedes: Nico Hülkenberg, Sergio Perez
Toro Rosso Renault: Max Verstappen, Carlos Sainz (Jr)
Lotus Mercedes: Romain Grosjean, Pastor Maldonado
Sauber Ferrari: Marcus Ericsson, Felipe Nasr
Bayden Westerweller
Roar Guru
There was some spectacular racing in that era - a nice change from the Schumacher-Ferrari era even as a fan, to witness a changing of the guard - to see Kimi in his career best form in 2005 let down only by reliability - that final lap tyre failure at Nurburgring! 2006 was epic with Schu vs. Alonso, and 2007-08 had their share of controversies. Something a little more genuine than what we're used to today. I agree re-Lewis. He'll likely remain at Mercedes for the foreseeable future - until 2017/18, and once Alonso departs if he hasn't well before then, he'll surely make a return. Unless he's enticed by the Ferrari dream that every driver talks of at some point, and the winning titles with three teams dream,.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
That was a pretty interesting time for the sport. A while ago I watched the 2005 to 2008 Season Reviews and they were great to see, especially seeing each championship post-Schumacher and the emergence of Hamilton, Alonso, Räikkönen and Button. Lewis will probably end up back at McLaren some day too. From a narrative point of view, seeing his career come full circle would look good.
Bayden Westerweller
Roar Guru
I must say, I put the 2007 season review on the other day and it was quite a throwback to see an extremely youthful Alonso, Hamilton in his debut season taking the world by storm, and also Button - at that stage in a Honda that was taking him nowhere in a hurry. And seeing Räikkönen on his Ferrari debut - considering his departure and subsequent return, and his season as Alonso's team-mate. Yet they're now they're back to being in the same positions as they were those eight years ago! All that remains is Hamilton making a spectacular McLaren return and it'd be as if nothing ever changed!
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
No doubt Fernando will get the maximum out of any car, but if he is to win a world championship then he needs a car that will put in its part too. Jenson's cool, gentleman-like attitude shouldn't rustle Fernando at all. After all even he says that now he has matured since 2007.
Bayden Westerweller
Roar Guru
Had we been made to wait until the New Year for an outcome, the matter would have reached debacle proportions, it's nice to finally have an answer even if there are those who wanted Magnussen alongside Alonso. What is certain is that Alonso will optimise the package as he did for so many years at Ferrari. Whether the car is good enough to allow him to fight for victories or podiums is another question. Button also has a point to prove, you only need to remember what he did when he joined Hamilton at McLaren - he had his measure over the duration of their stint as team-mates, he will be no pushover even if Fernando beats him more often than not.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Finally (as you say) the worst kept secret this year has been made official. McLaren now have the right drivers in place, all they need to suceed in 2015 is the right package.