Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsMcLaren

Vandoorne reports 'not accurate' insist McLaren

Recent media reports suggesting that GP2 championship leader Stoffel Vandoorne is to replace Jenson Button at McLaren have been dismissed by the team.

Italiaracing stated last week that McLaren's test and development driver would be confirmed as Fernando Alonso's new team mate for 2016 next weekend at the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps.

The reports said that Vandoorne's dominating performance in this year's GP2 Series championship had convinced McLaren bosses Ron Dennis and Eric Boullier to bring him into Formula One earlier than planned, after the young Belgian succeeded in elevating his profile above that of chief rival Kevin Magnussen.

However the reports have since been contradicted by a flat denial from McLaren issued to Spanish publication El Mundo Deportivo.

"The information is inaccurate. No announcement will be made in Spa regarding drivers. Moreover, we will decide and discuss our race drivers for 2016 when it is appropriate to do so."

Among the other summer silly season gossip have been reports linking Button with a retirement from Formula One in favour of a possible role in the reboot of motoring magazine show Top Gear.

A source told Britain's Daily Mail newspaper last month that "an announcement is imminent" of Button's move to broadcasting, but none has since been forthcoming and the BBC itself dismissed the rumours as "speculation", as did Button's spokesperson.

Button's prospects of retaining his race seat for another season were boosted recently by comments that Boullier made to F1i.com last week which emphasised the role of both drivers in maintaining the strength of the relationship between McLaren and Honda during a rocky start to their new collaboration in the sport.

"Their biggest strength is when they speak to the Honda engineers they are very much listened to, maybe more than a junior driver," Boullier said. "Having both World Champion drivers with such an aura and charisma is driving us faster and putting positive pressure on us."

If Vandoorne were to succeed in getting the race seat in Formula One for 2016 then it would be a bitter blow for the team's other test and development driver Kevin Magnussen who competed full time in Formula One in 2014 but was forced off the grid when McLaren signed Fernando Alonso and then also opted to retain Button for the current season.

Magnussen has told reporters that he won't accept another season on the sidelines and that if a full-time race seat didn't open up in Formula One then he will look further afield, with IndyCar in the United States one possibility.

Vandoorne meanwhile has been very much in action - and in the spotlight - in 2015, earning himself four wins and a further five podium places so far in GP2 including second place at the Hungaroring, and finishing outside the points in just one race so far in 12 outings.

"I definitely do feel ready for Formula One,” Vandoorne said last month. "I’ve been testing a Formula One car last year with McLaren and that went very well. I’m now in my second season of GP2 and that’s going very well as well.

"It's a very competitive sport and even if I win the [GP2] championship this season there is no guarantee that I will be in Formula One next year," he said, adding that he was in regular talks with McLaren bosses Dennis and Boullier, "but it's still too early to conclude something and know what is going to happen."

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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.