McLaren postpones driver decision until December

The McLaren F1 Team has postponed a decision on its 2015 driver line-up to 1 December at the earliest, attempting to put the focus back on the final race of the season this weekend at Abu Dhabi.

The team has been in the middle of the rumour mill with Fernando Alonso reportedly having sealed a deal with the Woking-based squad. This leaves current drivers Jenson Button and Kevin Magnussen in the dark as to whether they can expect to race for their current team next year.

"Selecting the optimal driver line-up for a Formula 1 team is clearly an important process, and it is therefore one that requires precise and prolonged analysis," read a McLaren statement.

"That being the case, in order to avoid distracting the race team from its primary objective during the final Grand Prix weekend of the season, which is to secure the best possible on-track results, we have decided to defer our final deliberations relating to our 2015 driver line-up until a date no earlier than December 1."

The team also announced that it plans to run its interim MP4-29H/1X1 at the upcoming post-race Abu Dhabi test.

"Furthermore, we are now only a few days away from formally commencing our technical partnership with Honda, and, subject to satisfactory final bench-testing, it is currently our intention to run our interim development car, the McLaren MP4-29H/1X1, on the test days that will follow the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix."

The MP4-29H/1X1 debuted in the hands of test driver Oliver Turvey at a filming day last Friday at Silverstone Circuit.