L-R: Ron Dennis (GBR) McLaren Executive Chairman with Jenson Button (GBR) McLaren. Formula One World Championship, Rd1, Australian Grand Prix, Race, Albert Park, Melbourne, Australia, Sunday, 18 March 2012. © Sutton Images
Alonso’s return to McLaren was widely expected after his recent Ferrari departure, while Button has endured weeks of speculation over his future before finally being given the nod over his 2014 team mate at Woking, Kevin Magnussen.
“As a pair, [Jenson] and Fernando are supremely experienced,” said Dennis. “Fernando has started 234 Grands Prix, has converted 32 of those starts to victories, has stood on a Grand Prix podium 97 times, and has won the drivers’ world championship not once but twice. He is a class act.
“As for Jenson, at 34, he is every bit as fit as Fernando but even more experienced: he has started 266 Grands Prix, has won 15 of them, and has stood on a grand prix podium 50 times. He, too, is an ex-world champion, and is one of the smoothest and fastest guys out there.”
Button has been with McLaren since 2010, while Dennis and Alonso are no strangers either - they worked together during the Spaniard’s 2007 season at the team, during which he won four times and finished level on points with then rookie team mate Lewis Hamilton.
“To sum up, Fernando and Jenson have started a combined total of precisely 500 Grands Prix between them - a mighty aggregate - and have won 47 of them,” added Dennis. “I can safely say, therefore, that we now have by an order of magnitude the best driver line-up of any current Formula One team.”
The other teams fielding multiple race-winning driver line-ups for 2015 are Mercedes, with Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg, and Ferrari, with Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen.