Eric Boullier says McLaren’s 2015 driver pairing needs to “boost morale” amongst team members.

While current team-mates Jenson Button and Kevin Magnussen play the waiting game, Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso has been linked with a return to the Woking-based outfit for its second spell with Honda engines.

Boullier, McLaren’s Racing Director, reckons it is crucial that the line-up inspires the squad moving forward.

“We need a mix of experience and eagerness,” Boullier explained during an interview with the official Formula 1 website. “In this time of recovery for McLaren I need a boost, so our driver line-up needs to be boosting the team’s morale and team’s determination to reach as quickly as possible the level where we should be.”

Boullier reiterated that long term success is central to the decision McLaren makes over its driver line-up.

“I always said that we are working on the strategy for the coming years – plural – which means we could take on a big name now, or even two big names for next year, or we could stay the same and go for a big name – or again two big names – for 2016,” Boullier, who joined the team from Lotus in pre-season, went on to comment.

“We are still assessing what we should do, as it is a big decision that will be driving our success for the medium term. If we take the wrong decision we could be successful in the short term but maybe not in the long term.

“We are in the comfortable position of being able to wait. I know that doesn’t make it comfortable for Jenson and Kevin, but I have to think about McLaren first. We have to make sure we make the right decision.”