Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsMcLaren

Dennis hints at loaning Magnussen out

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McLaren Group CEO Ron Dennis hints he is likely to place Kevin Magnussen in another team next season to continue his development.

Magnussen was relegated from race driver at the end of 2014 to the role of test and reserve driver at McLaren this season. With Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso both on multi-year deals, Magnussen acknowledges he may have to race elsewhere next year and Dennis admits it is a likely scenario for 2016.

“I think Kevin has the ability to race next year," Dennis told Ekstra Bladet when asked about the possibility of Magnussen regaining his McLaren seat. "At the same time, he also knows that we live in the real world.

“I have two world champions who are among the very best. So he has to prove himself. Perhaps that means I have to help him into another team for another learning year.”

And speaking in Copenhagen last week, Dennis urged Denmark to get behind Magnussen to give him the best opportunity to secure a race seat.

“When teams are choosing between these young drivers, unfortunately it’s not only about their talent. It’s also about the support they have from companies or countries.

"Kevin will succeed with or without your help, but it’s just a much bigger challenge for him when his opponents are young people from countries with huge support.”

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.