It has been announced yesterday that McLaren Test and Reserve driver Kevin Magnussen has revealed he will not get a chance to drive for McLaren during Friday practice sessions this year.
McLaren chose to retain Jenson Button alongside new signing Fernando Alonso for 2015, meaning Magnussen had to accept a third driver role for the upcoming season. He will attend races this year, but unlike third drivers at other teams, Magnussen will not drive the car at race weekends.
While answering questions from his followers on Twitter, Magnussen said he would be watching from the pit wall at grands prix this year. Magnussen is still open to racing in another series this year, but his plans have not yet been announced.
In conclusion, it is a real shame that McLaren will not allow Magnussen the opportunity to participate in FP1 sessions on Friday this season as I feel that he would have a lot to give the team in terms of direction on developing and improving the car over the season and also develop and improve as a driver as a result of taking part in the sessions too.
Even though McLaren have gone with the more experienced line up of Button and Alonso this season and while I respect the team’s decision and fully support it as a McLaren fan myself, I don’t agree with the way it has been handled. As Magnussen in my opinion had a strong rookie season where he did make some expected mistakes along the way as you would expect.
But Magnussen did show consistency, scored some points for the team when the opportunity presented itself and showed his talent and also his potential that warranted a second season in a race seat at the McLaren team. The majority of the fans feel sorry for Magnussen and the way he has been treated by McLaren, but at the end of the day, McLaren have made their decision regarding their drivers and we need to respect that.
But all Magnussen can do is demonstrate to the McLaren when he has the opportunity to test for them on the track just how talented he really is and also put in some performances on the track that will make McLaren rethink their decision not to run in an FP1 session this season.
Because if anyone deserves to be running in a FP1 session this season, it is without a shadow of a doubt it is Magnussen and I hope that the McLaren team for his sake reverse their decision and at least give him one run to show that he can perform on the track which is what matters.
