(McLaren Mercedes)
McLaren head to Melbourne next weekend for the first race of the new season after a number of key changes within the team over the Winter.
The main headline grabbing change for the Woking based team was the news that Eric Boullier has moved from the Lotus F1 Team to take up the newly created position of Racing Director at McLaren. The new role means that Boullier has been tasked with heading up the teams on track performances following a difficult 2013 campaign in which the team failed to secure a single podium.
The second big change is the return of Ron Dennis to the role of McLaren F1 Team CEO. He has returned to the team to help steer the business side of McLaren back to where they should be. Dennis confirmed that it was Martin Whitmarsh who initiated the contact with Eric Boullier about the prospect of the Frenchman joining the team.
Dennis also confirmed that despite the fact that Martin Whitmarsh has left the F1 team both he and Martin remain friends and that the decision to replace him was purely a business move.
McLaren also have a new driver in Kevin Magnussen who has been promoted from the teams young driver programme and has been extremely impressive during winter testing. The team will be hoping to end their partnership with Mercedes on a high as next season they will move to Honda power.
Dennis also described Jenson Button as a great driver and very similar to Ayrton Senna. The team will bring a major upgrade package for the MP4-29 which will include parts that the team had hoped to test over the winter but they weren't ready.
Speaking about the new season Jenson Button said that he believes his old team Williams will be extremely competitive this season and will be challenging at the front. The 2009 world champion will be hoping that he will be in a position to challenge for this years championship.
Meanwhile Kevin Magnussen has stated that he is extremely excited about making his Formula One debut next weekend in Australia.
©Ben Johnston 2014
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