Formula 1's Latest Rumours and Talk: McLaren Again, Hulkenberg in Porsche, More
McLaren are set to announce their 2015 Formula One driver lineup on Thursday, bringing to an end months of delays, speculation and uncertainty.
With Fernando Alonso arriving from Ferrari, either Jenson Button or Kevin Magnussen will be left without a drive. Many sources say Button will keep his seat, but confirmation is still needed. It's difficult to see a way back for whichever driver is left out in the cold.
Nico Hulkenberg has no such troubles, with two contracts in his pocket for next year. He will race at Le Mans for Porsche while also competing for Force India in F1, and has had his first experience in the 919 Hybrid at a test in Spain.
Meanwhile, Caterham are still hunting for a buyer, Daniil Kvyat says points were never an issue in his promotion to Red Bull and Williams claim their success in 2014 proves a huge budget is not always required to be competitive.
Read on for a full roundup of the week's top stories.
Nico Hulkenberg Has 1st Run in Le Mans Porsche
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Nico Hulkenberg has had his first taste of the Porsche 919 Hybrid he'll drive at next season's 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The Force India driver tweeted several images of his "new office" after the test at Spain's MotorLand Aragon circuit.
"#excitingtimes ! Lot's of new impressions in the new office...like running in the dark. #porsche919hybrid pic.twitter.com/Ux9higqfo3
— Nico Hülkenberg (@NicoHulkenberg) December 9, 2014"
Hulkenberg's first race for Porsche will be the Six Hours of Spa in early May. This currently clashes with the scheduled Korean Grand Prix, but multiple sources, including BBC Sport's Andrew Benson, suggest that race won't be happening.
With (hopefully) that experience under his belt, the German will become the first driver since Sebastien Buemi in 2009 to contest a full F1 season and drive at Le Mans in the same year.
He may still be waiting for a shot with a front-running team, but Hulkenberg surely has the most exciting 2015 schedule of any racing driver in the world.
McLaren Decision Finally Expected. Again
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McLaren will almost certainly announce their 2015 driver lineup on Thursday, with several sources claiming Jenson Button will get the nod ahead of Kevin Magnussen.
One of the two will make way as Fernando Alonso arrives from Ferrari.
BBC Sport states Button has definitely got the drive, as does The Telegraph. The Brit had seemed set for the exit, but a series of blistering late-season drives now appears to have secured his future.
Whichever way the decision goes, it will probably be the end of the F1 line for the driver not selected. Button, 34, will leave the sport to pursue other racing interests, while it's difficult to see a future for Magnussen if he is dropped now.
Per Sky Sports F1, the expected unveiling will take place at 10 a.m. at what the team describe as an "important and exclusive media event at the McLaren Technology Centre."
The site also reports at least one major new sponsor for the team may be announced, with Spanish telecoms firm Movistar rumoured to be in the frame.
The company is owned by Telefonica, which sponsored Alonso's Renault until the end of 2006.
Update: Button has indeed been confirmed alongside Alonso for 2015.
Williams Claims 2014 Success Is Proof Smaller Teams Can Compete
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Williams deputy team principal Claire Williams says her team's performance in 2014 proves less-funded teams can compete with the big boys.
Seemingly arguing against the smaller teams' claims they cannot afford to challenge at the front, she is quoted by ESPN, saying:
"For us, from where we were last season, it's such an amazing achievement against the likes of Ferrari which is operating on a budget twice the size of ours. That's such an achievement and, for me, that says everything that we need to say around all of the conversations going on at the moment.
Formula One is what it is. We've been in this sport long enough to know that.
"
Per F1 journalist Joe Saward, Williams are one of the teams to benefit—either permanently or on a one-off basis—from F1's lopsided revenue distribution model.
They did indeed have an excellent 2014, but in truth they were light years behind Mercedes at most circuits. For all they achieved, there's a strong argument they only looked good because others dropped the ball on the engine front.
Renault's struggles pushed Red Bull back into the midfield, while Ferrari also suffered with a very weak engine.
Perhaps if Williams can still consistently fight for podiums when everyone is running a reasonable power unit, we can start to believe budget is not as great an obstacle as it appears.
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Caterham Still Hunting a Buyer Despite Lack of Staff
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Caterham are refusing to give up as they fight to remain a part of F1.
BBC Sport reports the team are in talks with three potential buyers, with joint administrator Henry Shinners saying, "We want to give the team every chance of surviving so we are not setting a deadline."
But with many staff members having been made redundant, any new owner would need to find a lot of new employees before the start of the 2015 season, which kicks off in March. James Allen reports 230 staff were let go ahead of the final race of the year.
Earlier in the December, the other administrator, Finbarr O'Connell, told the Press Association (h/t The Guardian):
"I’m still talking to a few interested parties, and I’m hoping one of them can do the deal.
The number of people I’m talking to has increased, with two very strong candidates, and a third less strong. All I can do is show what I have, show the team, the assets and the facilities, and facilitate in any way I can with them making a decision.
I remain confident something will be done.
"
That all three parties are still in talks could be seen as a positive.
If Caterham do survive, the team have been given permission to run a 2014 car in 2015 to reduce the cost of competing.
This would leave the team even further off the pace than usual, but with only 10 teams likely to enter, they'd still secure some prize money if they see out the year.
The unfortunate side-effect would be that F1 would have a distinct, one-team "second division." Let's hope that if it does happen, no one uses it to argue for it to be expanded...
Daniil Kvyat Says Points Were Never an Issue in Red Bull Decision
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Daniil Kvyat says Red Bull's management paid little attention to the championship table when deciding Sebastian Vettel's successor at Red Bull.
The Russian came 15th in the final standings with just eight points. Toro Rosso team-mate Jean-Eric Vergne was two places and 14 points higher up.
But Kvyat says this was never a factor in their decision to promote him to the main Red Bull team for 2015. He told Autosport:
"Most of the time it has been down to something outside of my control and unless you're fighting for the championship you never really look at the points standings, so I don't really care about that.
Straightaway we were fighting for points and everything looked good, but I didn't think the car was completely coming to me.
Then there were a few races where in qualifying we were higher than what we would normally achieve—Red Bull Ring, Sochi and maybe Monza—those qualys I was very happy about.
For me, it's been a good season with high potential, and I'm lucky the people around me look deep into the details and what they saw was enough for them.
"
Red Bull were right to ignore the table. A gap of 14 points, with Kvyat managing just eight, is in no way reflective of the reality at Toro Rosso. The 20-year-old qualified ahead of experienced Vergne at 12 of the 19 races and lost plenty of points to reliability issues.
Kvyat was, by a small margin, the better driver—but still has everything to prove in 2015.
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