Silly season speculation regarding the futures of Jenson Button and Stoffel Vandoorne continues to do the rounds in the aftermath of the Monaco Grand Prix weekend
It is believed that Button, 36, came very close to switching to Williams for 2016, with McLaren-Honda only deciding to retain him late in the piece.
“It would be a lovely end to the Button story to go full circle,” former McLaren chief mechanic Marc Priestley said on the Sky programme F1 Report, referring to the fact that, then just 20, Button made his debut for the Grove team in 2000.
Current paddock talk suggests that McLaren has already decided to replace Button for 2017 with its young charger Stoffel Vandoorne.
“We have the priority choice on him,” admitted team boss Eric Boullier, referring to the reigning GP2 champion and Belgian. “But if there is no place for him here, we could consider lending him to another team.”
When asked by the Belgian newspaper La Derniere Heure if Renault might be an option for Vandoorne, reuniting him with his 2015 boss Frederic Vasseur, Boullier answered: “Why not? But it is too early to tell. Everything will move along when we have made our choice of drivers for 2017.”
Vasseur, however, denied that Vandoorne could race for Renault next year, “Despite all the friendship and esteem I have for Stoffel, it would not make sense to accept him from McLaren for one year.
“We cannot develop a driver for a year and then hand him to the competition,” he insisted.
With Felipe Massa likely to be ditched by Williams at the end of this season, Button is reportedly a candidate to end his career at the the Grove outfit, where it all began for the Englishman.
When asked, last month, if he would like to have the veteran Button as his 2017 teammate, Williams’ Valtteri Bottas answered: “Yes.”
But according to Marca, a press officer immediately interrupted the Finn’s interview, with Bottas agreeing: “I know for myself what rumours are like…”
Read the full story at GRAND PRIX 247
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