OT: The struggles of McLaren-Honda

D.C

Another tough weekend by the looks of things. Red Bull seem to have made progress (hard to tell really, because they're always good in Hungary). Maybe a little progress from Honda...but not enough

WernerBoeinck

Well, I wish them the very best. But it would be more satisfication to gain points with their own performance than of bad luck and legal problems of other Teams. I think, that's what
Fernando and Jenson are looking for. Therefore two champions
have been engaged. I think McLaren can do it.
They have done it with Honda before. Honda has to do
something. They have done it before. I'm sure they are able to achieve this, but the question is when. McLaren have not the reputation to stay in the backyard.
But they have the better watches!
Sorry for the others.
Werner Boeinck

WernerBoeinck

Hope they will leave the cellar now !!

Things aren't going as well as they could be for Fernando Alonso. Though he's still one of the best drivers on the F1 grid, it's been years since he's had a competitive car. And that can begin to wear on a racing driver after a while. Little wonder, then, that he's looking at other options.

"I love motorsport, all the categories," the Spaniard told Autosport. "But it's true Formula 1 is not exactly the same or as exciting as it was in the past, for me, to drive the cars just two or three seconds faster than a GP2 car." Alonso isn't venting his frustration at his current team, McLaren-Honda, which has been perpetually stuck at the back of the field this year as it struggles to find its form again and the new engine deal has yet to bear fruit. What's frustrating Fernando is the current F1 rulebook. "I'm enjoying this process of starting from zero and getting competitive," explained the two-time world champion. "But with no testing, with these tires, with these limitations, with the [21-race] calendar for next year, there is the temptation for other categories."

The implication is that Alonso could move over to Le Mans, whether in supplement to or as a replacement for F1. He's been linked many times over the past few years with a potential switch, previously with his past employers at Ferrari, who were also growing frustrated with F1 and were making noise about heading to Le Mans instead. More recently he was said to have been prevented from trying his hand at endurance racing by Honda. But with former rivals like Mark Webber and Nico Hülkenberg both driving for the winning Porsche team, to say nothing of all the other F1 drivers that have tried their hand insports car racing, the grass in Western France could start looking irresistibly green to Alonso.

Fernando made his F1 debut with Minardi in 2001 and has been a permanent fixture on the grid since 2003. He won back-to-back world titles with Renault in 2005-06, bounced between teams in the following years, and came in second in the championship standings for three seasons with Ferrari. He scored his first points of this season at Silverstone earlier this month when he finished the British Grand Prix in tenth place for McLaren-Honda - a team that is clearly in a building phase, and to which Alonso is contracted for the next three years.

Each year, we look forward to Formula One's so-called Silly Season, where speculation and rumors of drivers switching teams and teams dropping drivers dominate the paddock. As the 2015 Silly Season ramps up, though, it's facing a challenger for our attention from, of all things, a TV show.

Rumors are flying over who will join new Top Gear host Chris Evans, but this latest piece is probably the most tantalizing we've seen. According to the UK's Daily Mail, McLaren-Honda F1 driver and 2009 World driver's champion Jenson Button may be set to take up a position on the rebooted motoring show, with an anonymous source saying an "announcement is imminent." Grains of salt all around.

According to the Daily Mail, Button is a close friend of Evans and was featured twice during TG's Clarkson/Hammond/May era. At 35 years of age, he's a relative old timer on an F1 circuit that's becoming increasingly populated by young drivers, like 17-year-old Max Verstappen and 21-year-old Daniil Kvyat.

Adding a driver of Button's caliber would be a dramatic change for Top Gear, though, and could spell bad news for the show's anonymous test driver, The Stig. An unmasked professional racing driver would essentially make the beloved Stig obsolete, while also bringing the show more in line with its rival, Fifth Gear. The majority of that show's cast has professional racing experience, including Tiff Needell, Vicki Butler-Henderson, and former host Jason Plato.

With McLaren-Honda struggling this season and Button's repeated failure to match his 2009 Cinderella season, is now a good time for him to step away from the top echelon of motorsports? Would a show helmed by Chris Evans, Button, and another host work? Do your thing in Comments.

D.C

Agree. Will be interesting to see what Button does next year- I suspect he'll head to Porsche with Webber.