It is going to be bad news later today for the Danes with Jenson Button expected to be retained by McLaren for one more year, alongside Fernando Alonso. Kevin Magnussen will presumably be retained as the team’s reserve driver, although there is already one in the former of Stoffel Vandoorne. The team was keen on keeping the Dane but it seems that the board felt that Button was a better choice. Obviously there is also some boardroom politics going on, but we must wait to see how this all pans out. To be fair to Jenson, in the final races of the year he did a much better job than Magnussen. JB will thus get a 16th season in the sport. He is already the third driver in F1 history in terms of race starts but will need 2015 and 2016 if he is to pass Michael Schumacher’s total and 2017 as well to overhaul Rubens Barrichello’s record of 322 starts.

While there is no doubt some celebration on the Button camp, the challenge will be to do a better job than Fernando Alonso next year. That will not be easy but Button has the advantage of having had his “feet under the table” at McLaren for five seasons. The worry is that the season may not be a bed of roses with the new Honda engine to be developed and the possibility that this will not be up to speed with the existing units. Alonso has a long-term deal with the team and so will benefit from the work while Button may end up doing the hard graft and then handing his car over to Magnussen when it is more competitive. Time will tell.

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