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[BusterKarter]

Of course Button will be there. McLaren and Honda need as much experience as they can get to help put miles on the new engine. Slinging a rookie in the car would be a huge gamble and judging from the last few seasons McLaren have endured, I don't think they will be willing to take that risk.

[CookinFlat6]

Hulk has experience and is 15 times cheaper, kobayashi has experience, is Japanese and is practically a pay driver, grosjean has experience is fast could be presented as a potential star driver etc etc

Button is history, his wage plus no sponsor this year will have been painful. The chances are that it was confirming him for 2014 without landing the sponsor that finally pushed the Bharainis to let Ron back in. If you look at the timing - they held off confirming Perez whilst confirming button, and when the sponsor didn't come Perez was dropped, Ron's driver was brought in but it was too late to stop the cheque for 15 mill going to the self proclaimed duck

[myownalias]

I don't really think that McLaren are worried about the £15m paycheck; the question should be are there any available drivers that present a better open; I don't believe McLaren will want two rookies driving, Hulkenberg is a valid option, he is quick and reliable in general, Grosjean, although he was good in '13, I believe he is still an unknown quality... who knows maybe Lewis will be back at McLaren if the perceived favouritism continues at Mercedes.

[CookinFlat6]

Why do you say they are not worried about the 15mill? Do you have some evidence or is it just an assumption? 15mill - the third highest wage on the grid is almost enough to pay for the engines for a year. What available drivers present a better option? moneywise Loads. What exactly do you think Button brought to the team this year that Hulk, Koba, RoGro, Bottas, Danny Ricc, have not brought for a fraction of the price? Honda appear to be ready to pay for part of the wage for a TOP start driver, they obviously dont want to pay for Button - and thats not an assumption.

I am genuinely curious to know how you ask the question if there are any better options for 15mill? Mag is a rookie and has shown the potential to more than match or better jensobn next year when he has a WHOLE years experience under his belt and he brings sponsorship and is on about 1/30th of Jensons wage

What does Button bring at 15 - 30 times the salary of those mentioned above???? (please please dont say a WDC because that obviously has NO selling power which is why the team are sponsorless)

[myownalias]

Why do you say they are not worried about the 15mill? Do you have some evidence or is it just an assumption? 15mill - the third highest wage on the grid is almost enough to pay for the engines for a year. What available drivers present a better option? moneywise Loads. What exactly do you think Button brought to the team this year that Hulk, Koba, RoGro, Bottas, Danny Ricc, have not brought for a fraction of the price? Honda appear to be ready to pay for part of the wage for a TOP start driver, they obviously dont want to pay for Button - and thats not an assumption.

I am genuinely curious to know how you ask the question if there are any better options for 15mill? Mag is a rookie and has shown the potential to more than match or better jensobn next year when he has a WHOLE years experience under his belt and he brings sponsorship and is on about 1/30th of Jensons wage

What does Button bring at 15 - 30 times the salary of those mentioned above???? (please please dont say a WDC because that obviously has NO selling power which is why the team are sponsorless)

You misunderstand, I am not saying that there aren't better financial options out there in the driver market; I am saying £15m isn't a lot of money to a team like McLaren, so paying £15m for a driver is not a financial challenge for them. IF Jenson was to stay on; he will have to come down in his wage demands significantly as drivers don't demand what they use to a few years back when the £15m deal was struck. I'm not even saying Jenson is worth £15m at this point, it's been five years since his WDC year with very little to show for it. But that said, Jenson is not solely responsible for McLaren's downfall, it was a collective failure by the team and I don't believe those problems with go away because Ron Dennis is back. I really wish that EwanM (before your time here) still posted because he has some amazing insights on why McLaren have dropped away from the sharp end.

What does Button bring to the table; consistency; he may be a journeyman but he keeps on bringing home points race after race; but with Ron's increasing desperation, I can see a whole new driver line up for 2015!

[Ferrari man 009]

What does Button bring to the table; consistency; he may be a journeyman but he keeps on bringing home points race after race; but with Ron's increasing desperation, I can see a whole new driver line up for 2015!

The fact that McLaren said they were looking for long term options hints to me that Button won't be staying on. In terms of a long term option, I think either Hulkenburg or Bottas are the best options to partner Magnussen.

[Jabberwocky]

The thing with Bottas is looking at the championship this year. Why would Bottas or the Hulk jump ship to Mclaren?

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[Hammer278]

The thing with Bottas is looking at the championship this year. Why would Bottas or the Hulk jump ship to Mclaren?

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Honda. Williams is just a privateer and will never have the might to challenge Mercedes over a season, Merc will make sure they don't get embarrassed by a much smaller team using the same engine.

From a drivers POV, if they mean business they will want to join a rival with potential. And out of the engine suppliers, Honda/McLaren is a big gamble which could be the next Mercedes in 2 years time.

[Jabberwocky]

Yep, I get that. But this year Mclaren has shown it is lacking in the chassis department. Honda is not going to sort that out, unless the turn up with a 1000bhp beast engine

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[CookinFlat6]

The thing with Bottas is looking at the championship this year. Why would Bottas or the Hulk jump ship to Mclaren?

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Money and stability - a whopping 5 year big money deal. Honda are the only firm out there who could make Mercs spending/resources look like Lotus'

[CookinFlat6]

What does Button bring to the table; consistency; he may be a journeyman but he keeps on bringing home points race after race; but with Ron's increasing desperation, I can see a whole new driver line up for 2015!

The fact that McLaren said they were looking for long term options hints to me that Button won't be staying on. In terms of a long term option, I think either Hulkenburg or Bottas are the best options to partner Magnussen.

They need to grab a big star and stick him on a multi year big money deal, like Ferrari and Merc did when they were building a winning outfit.

Button is about to get ' intermediate term optimised objective horizon restructuring' performed on his bottom

[LH44]

£15million is a lot of money for McLaren and it's an open secret they've been trying to cut costs for sometime. Button would have to take a significant pay cut if he is to stay on. It's been reported that McLaren are still pursuing Alonso either for 2015 or 2016 and Honda have made demands to sign a top driver. I can see Jenson staying on for another year and Alonso coming aboard from 2016.

[Ferrari man 009]

I can see Jenson staying on for another year and Alonso coming aboard from 2016.

Better hope either McLaren or Alonso have the money to buy him out of his Ferrari contract then. Also im sure Alonso recently said his plan was to finish his F1 career with Ferrari then move to Le Mans with Ferrari as he and Montezemelo planned a go at it in the mid-long term future.

[Big Azza]

Hulkenburg? But would it be a step back for him?

What about Vergne? He's available next year. If we go on Ricciardo's form, whom Vergne was regularly competing with/beating in the championship - surely he's worth a shot in an above-average team...

[bud]

Ron loves his Finns...