No fears of Jenson Button leaving McLaren

Honda have given him an upgraded internal combustion engine, designed using their remaining four in-season development tokens.

Button, who is taking part in his 283rd grand prix here in Russian Federation, did not fear bringing to an end his Formula One career, but said he did not know whether he would still be at the team beyond next season.

“As I say, we’ve been very, very positive all the time; sometimes it’s normal and understandable talking to the team, the level of frustration that I have racing, and Jenson has as well”, he added. It would be a big step forward if we could win a race next year but the package is still very young.

“We’re working hard on reliability and it was encouraging that we didn’t have any issues with the vehicle all weekend”. “I have been in the MTC [McLaren Technology Centre] with the engineers and aerodynamicists running me through everything so I have a good understanding of the future”.

During last month’s Japanese race, the two-time world champion likened the under-powered Honda turbo to an engine from the GP2 feeder category – where engines are around 300bhp down on the standard-setting F1 Mercedes engine. However, he insisted in Sochi that McLaren and their engine partner Honda, whose power unit has been the car’s biggest failing this year, will have more to offer next season.

But I did my own research among the other teams and the consensus seems to be that they’re looking at between eighth and 10th on the grid at best at the moment. “Unfortunately, the session was cut short to 60 minutes, so we had less time than we would have liked, but we were able to get good feedback from the engine for the races to come”. “That is what was exciting, to see there is a lot happening”.

As a result, Jenson Button made an explanation, of sorts, as to why he finally chose to race on for another season.

It was reported on Thursday night in the Financial Times that CVC, the private equity group that owns 35.5% of F1, was close to a deal to sell its stake to a US-Qatari consortium.

There would be a lot more emphasis and focus on the driver. If the shareholders want to sell, they will sell. That is what the problem is. The truth is, none of us know yet.