During Formula One’s painstakingly long summer break, the rumour mill has continued flowing in full motion, with the latest speculation linking impressive Finnish ace Valtteri Bottas to McLaren when the team rekindles its partnership with Honda partnership next season. The only question is: who would the 24-year-old replace at the Woking-based outfit?
After yet another unimpressive season so far for Jenson Button, many are understandably linking Bottas to his seat within the team, with rumours of the 2009 World Champion entering retirement looming ominously within the paddock. Although McLaren debutant Kevin Magnussen has also endured a relatively unimpressive first half of the season, the Dane has recently begun out-performing his vastly experienced British team-mate.
With Honda reportedly eager for McLaren to nail down a competitive driver partnership for their return to the sport next season, many big names have been linked to the outfit including Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso and even reigning World Champion Sebastian Vettel. However, with McLaren no longer boasting the sizeable budget of previous years due to their recent lack of success, the ability to lure away a large profile like Vettel or Alonso could well prove incredibly troublesome.
Therefore their only true option would be to retain their current driver line-up or opt for a slightly less experienced driver who has the potential to continue improving; such as Valtteri Bottas. The Finn has made an extremely promising start to his Formula One career at Williams, comfortably matching team-mate Pastor Maldonado during his debut season in 2013 before visibly excelling this year after the team’s switch to Mercedes power.