Button does not need to prove himself

Jenson Button does not need to prove himself to keep his seat with the McLaren team.

The 2009 Formula One World Champion’s future is currently in limbo.

The British driver is out-of-contract at the end of the season. Button himself has spoken of his desire to stay with the team, but McLaren appear to be in no rush to confirm their driver line-up.

McLaren switch from Mercedes power to Honda power for 2015, with the Japanese manufacturer keen to sign a marquee driver for next season and beyond.

It would appear at 34-year-old that Button may not fit the picture and McLaren have been widely linked to talks with the likes of Fernando Alonso, Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton.

The favourite in the media for one of the McLaren seats is Alonso, especially as it is widely thought that he has had the remainder of his two-year-contract with Ferrari terminated by mutual consent.

It is believed that Vettel is en route to moving to Ferrari, but that deal has not yet been confirmed so it’s still a possibility that he could also be going to McLaren following his departure from Red Bull Racing.

Hamilton’s own contract talks with Mercedes have been put on hold, but it’s not expected that he will leave the team at the end of the year.

So can Button’s upturn in form help him to earn a new contract at McLaren alongside one of the aforementioned names?

Whilst he has been out-qualified 9-7 by team-mate Kevin Magnussen, Button is 45-points clear in the drivers championship.

‘We don’t need him to deliver an extra job on track to – let’s say – save his job, We know the value of Jenson and we know he is a world champion-class driver and he has been a world champion already.’ McLaren racing director Eric Boullier told the BBC.

‘I understand obviously that [Button] may not feel comfortable and obviously he’s concerned about his future, I’m in charge of McLaren Racing and we have to build the best for the team. Drivers are obviously very important in the discussion and Jenson is more than considered to stay with us for the long term.

‘But we are still investigating what we want to do with our driver line-up, once we have all the data in our hands.’