Formula 1's Latest Rumours and Talk: Jenson Button, Kevin Magnussen and More
One of the most iconic names in the history of Formula One, McLaren-Honda were brought to their knees over the course of the 2015 season.
A team synonymous with grand prix victories and title triumphs with Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost could barely force their way into the top 10 for much of the year as the careers of Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button paled into insignificance.
Button, however, is confident McLaren will recover in 2016, urging to use Ferrari's resurgence as a template for their route back to the top.
Had events turned out differently, Button would not currently be preparing for his 17th season in F1 but rather reflecting on his first year in semi-retirement in the World Endurance Championship.
McLaren came close to ending Button's career at the end of 2014, and former driver Kevin Magnussen—who says he was promised a place alongside Alonso in 2015—has revealed the 2009 world champion was ready to walk away, claiming the British driver had a "farewell" helmet design prepared for his final race.
Dumped by McLaren and without a seat for 2016, Magnussen's time in F1 appears to have come to a premature end, but Jolyon Palmer's journey is only just beginning. The 2014 GP2 champion was chosen as Romain Grosjean's replacement at Renault, and new team-mate Pastor Maldonado has insisted Palmer is ready to race in F1.
Elsewhere, Lewis Hamilton has spoken about his relationship with fellow three-time world champion Niki Lauda, while Mercedes engine boss Andy Cowell has predicted the sound of F1 will be much improved in 2016.
Here's our latest roundup.
Jenson Button Hopes McLaren-Honda Can Emulate Ferrari's Resurgence
1 of 5
Jenson Button believes the extent of Ferrari's resurgence in 2015 should inspire McLaren-Honda to get back on track in 2016.
Having endured their first winless season in more than two decades in 2014, Ferrari—after making a number of changes in personnel—recovered to claim a total of 16 podium finishes, including three victories as well as a pole position—to finish runners-up to Mercedes in 2015.
Seemingly on their knees just 12 months ago, Ferrari can enter the upcoming season with realistic ambitions of winning their first championship of any kind since 2008.
Without a race victory since the 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix, McLaren experienced one of the most troublesome seasons in their history in 2015 as they struggled with their underpowered, unreliable and inefficient Honda power unit, finishing second-bottom in the constructors' standings.
Button, though, believes McLaren are more than capable of producing a similarly rapid turnaround, telling Autosport (h/t Eurosport):
"It was great to see them [Ferrari] pick up the pace. I heard rumours they found a hundred horsepower over the winter. I don't know if that's true or not.
But whatever they found, it was massive and they took the fight to Mercedes on many occasions. It was good to see. Obviously we need to make even bigger steps if we want to achieve that, but it can be done over a winter.
"
As reported by Motorsport.com's Jonathan Noble, changes to the Honda engine "are expected to deliver a significant step forward in pace next year," while McLaren's 2016 chassis is producing "encouraging figures" in the team's wind tunnel.
Kevin Magnussen Claims He Was Promised a 2015 McLaren Seat
2 of 5
Kevin Magnussen has revealed he was assured of a race seat at McLaren for the 2015 season before the team decided to retain Jenson Button.
Still the only McLaren driver to stand on a podium in the last three seasons, having claimed second place on his grand prix debut at Australia 2014, Magnussen was demoted to a reserve role for 2015 after the team signed Fernando Alonso from Ferrari.
Alonso's signing was expected to signal the end of Button's F1 career, but a strong end to 2014—his four top-five finishes in the final five races allowed McLaren to beat Force India to fifth in the constructors' championship—saw the 2009 world champion earn a reprieve.
Magnussen was released by the team in October, with the Dane telling Motorsport.com's Jonathan Noble he was informed of his sacking on his 23rd birthday through an email from the personal assistant of Ron Dennis, the McLaren chairman.
Dennis responded by telling Motorsport.com's Valentin Khorounzhiy that Magnussen simply failed to meet the team's expectations, suggesting his sacking shouldn't have come as a surprise.
However, Magnussen has claimed he was promised a place alongside Alonso, suggesting Button was fully prepared to bow out of F1 at the end of 2014. He told Danish publication Ekstra Bladet (h/t ESPN F1):
"I was told that it was my seat [for 2015]. That I didn't need to worry. I can't remember exactly when it was, but it was at the end of the season. ...
Jenson had his two best races at the end. He did really well. But he had also hung photos of his entire career in his room. He had a helmet ready to go that said 'Goodbye' on it. He was driving only to have fun and enjoy his last two races without stress or pressure, believing 100 percent that he was done in Formula One. ...
Jenson is one of the best and there's nothing [negative] between us. We are in the same sport and competing for the same seats. There is full respect. I know why he got the seat and there's nothing between him and me at all.
"
Soon after his departure from McLaren, Gene Haas told the official F1 website that the American outfit would have signed Magnussen for 2016 had they been unable to lure Romain Grosjean from Lotus.
Pastor Maldonado Backs Jolyon Palmer to Succeed at Renault in 2016
3 of 5
Pastor Maldonado believes new team-mate Jolyon Palmer is ready to race in Formula One after spending 2015 on the sidelines.
After winning the 2014 GP2 title, Palmer joined Lotus in a reserve-driver role and participated in several free-practice sessions across the 2015 season, replacing Romain Grosjean on each occasion.
When Grosjean announced his switch to the brand-new Haas team for 2016, Palmer was soon confirmed as his successor. Renault's takeover of Lotus means the British driver—the son of former grand prix driver Jonathan Palmer—will begin his F1 career with a major factory outfit.
Palmer raced strongly against Felipe Nasr, the highly impressive Sauber driver, during his GP2-winning season, and Maldonado—a fellow champion of F1's official feeder series—believes the 24-year-old is primed to compete in the pinnacle of motorsport.
The 2012 Spanish Grand Prix winner told Autosport (h/t Eurosport):
"It's always difficult because he has been running this year on most of the Fridays but always with the harder compounds on a very green track and that is the worst moment of the weekend.
He's a good driver, he's very intelligent and I wish him the best.
I think he is ready. I hope he pushes hard with me to put the team in a good place.
Spending the year with Lotus, it will help him from one side because he knows everyone, he knows how we work.
Of course he is not experienced racing in Formula 1, he is not experienced having time to set up the car but that will come.
If you are clever and do your job with the guys, this will come automatically.
He needs some time to adapt himself to the races, too.
"
According to the Telegraph's Daniel Johnson, Palmer's ability to offer "around £7 million" activated a clause in his contract which allowed him to replace Grosjean on a full-time basis in 2016.
In a separate Telegraph article, Johnson claims Palmer had previously paid Lotus "around £250,000 per practice session" to drive the Frenchman's car on Friday mornings.
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
Lewis Hamilton Admits Niki Lauda Wasn't 'A Big Fan' Prior to Mercedes Switch
4 of 5
Lewis Hamilton has admitted Niki Lauda, the Mercedes nonexecutive chairman, was no fan of the British driver until his move to the team at the end of 2012.
A three-time world champion himself, Lauda played an instrumental role in Hamilton's decision to end his long association with McLaren to replace seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher at Mercedes in 2013, telling BBC Radio 5 Live (h/t the Guardian) how he encouraged Hamilton to seek "a new challenge."
The Austrian has since gone on to become one of Hamilton's closest allies at Mercedes, overseeing the British driver's two consecutive title triumphs in 2014 and 2015.
Hamilton, however, has admitted Lauda—who told CNN's Sarah Holt and Amanda Davies of his admiration of the 30-year-old in October—hasn't always been quite so approving, telling Autosport (h/t Eurosport):
"When I started out Niki wasn't a big fan of mine, as far as I was aware, not always the most complimentary towards me.
He didn't know me, and we hadn't really met and spoken.
It wasn't until we started talking mid-2012 that our relationship started, from scratch. You know how competitive and how diligent he was when he was racing, and I think he saw a lot of himself in me.
We like the same things, we're very similar in many ways, so our relationship started from then. Since then he has been one of my strongest supporters within this team and organisation, which is hugely, hugely appreciated.
"
In November, the Times' Kevin Eason claimed Lauda was on the verge of quitting the team over a supposed power struggle with team boss Toto Wolff.
That report was dismissed in amusing fashion at the season-ending Abu Dhabi GP, and Hamilton hopes Lauda will remain at Mercedes "for a lot longer."
Mercedes' Andy Cowell Expects 2016 Regulations to 'Enhance' F1 Engine Sound
5 of 5
Andy Cowell, the managing director of Mercedes High Performance Powertrains, believes the tweaks to the regulations will improve the sound of the current Formula One engines in 2016.
Since the V6 turbo power units were introduced at the beginning of 2014, the noise and volume of the engines have been widely criticised, with four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel referring to the sound as "s--t," per ESPN F1.
Concerns that the noise may turn away spectators who still long for the return of the screeching V8 engines has seen F1 allow changes to the exhausts of the cars from the upcoming season.
As reported by F1i.com's Chris Medland, teams have used a single exhaust pipe since 2014 but now "must use at least one additional pipe for the wastegate, with up to two extra pipes allowed."
And Cowell believes those changes will have a noticeable effect on the noise produced by the hybrid engines, telling the same source:
"I think that will enhance the sound, it will tidy it up. At the moment we’ve got the main tailpipe coming out of the rear of the turbine and the wastegate tees in to that so there is just one pipe coming out of the back.
That tee piece acts as a dead end on the main tailpipe so it acts as a side branch resonator which will affect the frequency of the sound in the main tailpipe. Taking that out will clean up the quality of the sound and improve the volume as well of the main tailpipe.
"
Having won 32 of a possible 38 grands prix since the beginning of 2014, Mercedes are the masters of the V6 technology and have made efforts to help spectators warm to the hybrid engines.
After the initial response to the sound of the power units was lukewarm, the Silver Arrows trialled a megaphone-style exhaust system in an in-season test at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. The inventive design, however, had no effect on the sound of the engine and has not appeared since.
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
