McLaren racing director Eric Boullier says the biggest strength of having Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button as this year’s driver line-up is the respect they gain from Honda.
With Alonso joining from Ferrari at the end of the 2014 season, McLaren was left with a decision of which of last year’s race drivers - Button and Kevin Magnussen - to drop. While Magnussen was favoured by the majority internally, Button eventually got the nod and Boullier says it is clear where the benefit has been to have two world champions in the team.
“The biggest strength is obviously their experience and their charisma,” Boullier told F1i. “When they speak, they are listened to. So their biggest strength is when they speak to the Honda engineers they are very much listened to, maybe more than a junior driver.”
When it was put to Boullier he was potentially highlighting one of the risks of retaining Magnussen for 2015, he replied: “Not risky, but it would have been a different scenario which we would have handled differently.
“But having both world champion drivers with such an aura and charisma is driving us faster and putting positive pressure on us.”
And Boullier says the drivers are fully aware of the potential within the car, which has appeased them during the early struggles.
“So far there is no frustration. The one we had in Canada with Fernando was just about ‘I want to race at least if you make me start from the back’, which we can understand. But nothing else. They are working hard, they are committed, they are behind us and they believe in the project which is the most important thing.”
Click here to find out the budgets available to each F1 team during the 2015 season
Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter
