McLaren were one of the surprise packages at Melbourne following the winter testing. No, not because of their outright pace, but because they somehow managed to get Jenson Button home to the finish. After being both slow and unreliable during testing, the team very much so found themselves on the back foot heading towards the Australian round of the championship, but remarkably the car finished in 11th place. The same could not be said of Kevin Magnussen however, who was replacing the injured Fernando Alonso, as his race ended before he even reached the grid. This does leave Alonso with just three ICE (internal combustion engine) units remaining for the entire season.
2015 Malaysia Grand Prix McLaren Preview
No. 14 Fernando Alonso (ESP)
Form: I/9/6/6/6
2014: Grid: P4, Race: P4
This was one of Ferrari’s stronger showings last year, and Alonso made the very most of it: qualifying ahead of Daniel Ricciardo’s Red Bull and finishing ahead of a very fast Nico Hulkenberg. I can be confident in saying that his chances of repeating this result here are very slim, and that is if he even races at all. Alonso’s fate for this weekend remains in the hands of the FIA, who will give the go-ahead or not on Thursday. Should Alonso not race, it is expected that Magnussen will take his place again.
No. 22 Jenson Button (GBR)
Form: 11/5/4/12/4
2014: Grid: P10, Race: P6
Button really did surprise many by finishing the Australian Grand Prix. With the heat, humidity and downpours which Malaysia is so very famous for, doing the same again here may well be very tricky. After showing some pretty quick pace during the end of the race last time out, it will be interesting to see whether he can duel with the likes of Force India again here.
