Formula 1's Latest Rumours & Talk: Jenson Button on Fernando Alonso, Haas & More
If Fernando Alonso does decide to return to McLaren for the 2015 Formula One season, the team will either call time on Jenson Button's career or cut short the experiment with Kevin Magnussen.
Although the logical decision would arguably be to invest time in developing the next generation, Button, the most experienced driver on the current grid, has argued that his good record alongside fellow world champions would stop Alonso from dismantling him in the same way as the Spaniard did to Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen at Ferrari.
While Button is setting his standards high, Gene Haas is setting his disappointingly low, with the American admitting that the main goal for his team will be to survive for five years after it arrives on the grid in 2016.
Elsewhere, the increasingly impressive Max Verstappen, another member of the next generation, has rejected the notion that his tender age could prevent him from succeeding in F1 in the bluntest of fashions, while 18-year-old Esteban Ocon raised eyebrows in his first test for the Lotus team.
Closing this week's roundup is the news that Sam Michael is set to leave McLaren and F1 after over two decades in the sport.
Jenson Button Would Relish Working with Fernando Alonso at McLaren
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Despite BBC Sport's Andrew Benson claiming that Jenson Button has held discussions with Porsche over a move to the World Endurance Championship for 2015, the 2009 world champion has said that he would not be frightened of partnering Fernando Alonso at McLaren next season.
Alonso, widely regarded as the most complete driver on the grid, is likely to join the Woking-based team for 2015 having, according to Sky Sports' Pete Gill, agreed to terminate his Ferrari contract earlier this month.
The Spaniard's anticipated return to the outfit would leave McLaren with a choice between Button and Kevin Magnussen, their existing drivers, to race alongside Alonso next season.
And Button, who has not won a race since the 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix, has claimed that he would be excited, not intimidated, by the prospect of partnering the two-time world champion, who has reduced a driver of the calibre of Kimi Raikkonen to a back-up role at Ferrari this year.
Button told Autosport's Ben Anderson:
"For me, working with any driver up and down the grid, nothing scares me of working with a world champion.
I've worked with two in the past—Jacques Villeneuve, when I was young, and with Lewis [Hamilton] for three years.
I'm not fearful of any team-mate, and I find it exciting learning new people and the way people work, because it's not always what it might seem from the outside.
"
Gene Haas Targets Five Years of Survival for F1 Team
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In a move that has the air of Caterham about it, Gene Haas has declared that just staying in Formula One will be the prime target for his team when it arrives on the grid in time for the 2016 season.
In April, the FIA granted an entry to Haas, the NASCAR team owner, whose F1 operation announced a technical partnership with Ferrari in September.
Despite already making steps in a promising direction, Haas has admitted that remaining on the grid for a five-year period will be a success for his F1 team.
The American was quoted by Sarah Holt and Don Riddell of CNN as stating:
"The first five years is about just surviving. I don't have any grander expectations that we are going to go there and win championships.
If we can even win one race in five years that would be a tremendous success.
"
The 61-year-old added that setting up an F1 team is "certainly the biggest challenge of my career but I don't have any doubts we can do it."
Max Verstappen Dismisses Fears over Mental Strength
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When Max Verstappen was announced as a Toro Rosso driver for the 2015 Formula One season, there were widespread doubts over how a teenager would adapt both physically and psychologically to the pinnacle of motor racing.
At the age of just 17, the Dutchman, son of former F1 driver Jos Verstappen, will become the youngest driver in the sport's history by quite some margin when he participates in next year's Australian Grand Prix as the latest graduate of Red Bull's young driver scheme.
He went a long way toward putting concerns over his physical capabilities to bed by excelling in the first free practice session at Suzuka earlier this month, posting a quickest time just four-tenths shy, as per Formula1.com, of regular driver Daniil Kvyat, who will replace Sebastian Vettel at four-time world champions Red Bull in 2015.
And Verstappen has rubbished questions over his mental capacity, telling RedBull.com: “I have no problems at all with [mental strength]! I’m really relaxed and I don’t want to think about mental stress, or how strong you are mentally because, to be honest, I find it a bit b------t."
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Esteban Ocon Impresses Lotus in First Test
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Lotus handed a Formula One test debut to Esteban Ocon, the newly-crowned European Formula Three champion, this week and were impressed by what they saw.
The 18-year-old, according to Autosport, completed over "150 laps and 400 miles over two days of running" behind the wheel of the E20 chassis—the car which 2007 world champion Kimi Raikkonen guided to victory in the 2012 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix—over two days at Valencia.
Ocon's performance was praised by Alan Permane, the trackside operations director, who told Autosport:
"Esteban drove exceptionally well over the course of the last two days, completing every task we asked of him.
It's clear he has a lot of talent as he was quickly up to speed and looked comfortable in the car. His feedback and aptitude were very promising.
I'm sure we will see him in an F1 car again before too long.
"
Sam Michael to Leave McLaren at End of Season
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Sam Michael will vacate his position as McLaren's sporting director at the end of the 2014 Formula One season.
According to BBC Sport's Andrew Benson, the Australian notified Ron Dennis, the team's chairman, of his decision to return with his family to his homeland earlier this year, but opted to see out the current campaign with McLaren, whom he joined in 2012.
The 43-year-old, formerly of Team Lotus, Jordan and Williams, was quoted by Benson as stating: "It's been 21 awesome years in F1. Loved every minute of the racing and the people, but it's time to go home—and on with the next challenge."
Meanwhile, McLaren have reiterated their desire to keep Tim Goss, the technical director, and Jonathan Neale, the team's chief operating officer, with a spokesman being quoted by Benson as saying: "They are not leaving and there are no plans for them to leave."
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