Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsMcLaren

Button has confidence in Magnussen

Jenson Button says he is confident Kevin Magnussen will be able to get to grips with the McLaren MP4-30 quickly.

Magnussen will race for McLaren at the first round in Australia after Fernando Alonso was ruled out on doctors’ advice following a heavy accident during pre-season testing. The opportunity comes with Magnussen as the team’s reserve driver having lost his race seat at the end of 2014.

Speaking before confirmation that the Dane would race, Button - who drove alongside Magnussen last year - said it was one of his team-mate’s strengths to be able to quickly get up to speed in any car.

“Kevin has always been very good at jumping in the car and getting to grips with him very quickly,” Button said. “That’s something that we found when he first jumped in to a Formula One car, so I don’t think that’s going to be an issue.

“It’s always nice having as many views as you can possibly have from different experienced drivers. Obviously it’s a shame that Fernando isn’t able to do mileage for himself but also for me, it’s always good having information from different parties.”

After his first day driving the car at Barcelona last week, during which he completed just 39 laps, Magnussen himself admitted it will be “difficult” for him to race in Australia having not had much time working with engineers in preparation for the new season.

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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.