Yesterday was the day plenty expected McLaren to finally announce their driver line up for next year. With Fernando Alonso all but confirmed in one seat, there has been months of deliberation on who of their current line up will stay on to partner him next year.
Both Kevin Magnussen and Jenson Button have been waiting for several months for their McLaren team to decide which driver shall partner Alonso next year. Both were joined by Mika Hakkinen at a Johnny Walker sponsor event in Scotland and it seems both expected to find out their fates also. McLaren had previously declared that a decision would only be made after December 1st, therefore plenty predicted McLaren would announce a final decision after a board meeting which took place yesterday.
McLaren announced after yesterday's meeting " Today's board meeting has now concluded, and no decision has been taken with regard to our 2015 driver line-up." Now both Button and Magnussen will have to wait a while longer before their plans for next year are confirmed.
For both drivers the frustration at having to wait so long must be growing and at the sponsor event yesterday Button aired some of his feelings on the matter to Press Association Sport " It's a weird time. It's the end of the season, we haven't got a race for many months, and I have had time to reflect on many things. So I'm good, but I just want to get it done. I want to hear the decision - as we all do - so we can all move on in whatever direction."
Button also spoke of his relationship with team mate Magnussen over the year "I've spent some time with Kevin over the past couple of days, and it's been really nice doing that, This situation has been difficult for both of us, but we've shown over the last couple of days that we work so well together. It's such a shame we won't be working together in the future in terms of being team-mates."
The longer that McLaren take to come to a decision, the more damaging it will be for everyone involved. Both drivers are being left to wait their fate, which is damaging their chances of securing another drive next year. Whilst for whichever driver they choose to partner Alonso, they will not be left much time to adjust to the new Honda powerplant and new McLaren car, before pre-season testing starts early next year.
Community Question:
Who do you think McLaren should keep to partner Alonso next year and why?