McLaren reportedly in talks with Hamilton

(Mercedes AMG F1 Team)

According to a report in today's Daily Telegraph McLaren have opened what have been described as 'tentative talks' with Lewis Hamilton about the possibility of the Mercedes driver returning to the team where he won the championship with next season should he lose out in this year's championship fight with Mercedes AMG F1 Team mate Nico Rosberg who currently holds a 29 point advantage over Hamilton at the top of the championship.

It is unclear whether Hamilton would want to return to McLaren even if he was to lose out in this year's championship as 2015 will be a transition year for the Woking based outfit due to the fact that they will be in the first season of their long term engine partnership with Japanese manufacturer Honda.

The report also suggested that the team could be looking into the possibility of rehiring Fernando Alonso from Ferrari, however this is an extremely unlikely scenario as the Spaniard is locked into a long standing contract with Ferrari. The Telegraph also stated that McLaren could be tempted by launching a bid to pry reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel away from Infiniti Red Bull Racing as the German has struggled to get to grips with the new RB10 and is currently fifth place in the championship on 60 point's, 23 behind team mate Daniel Ricciardo.

McLaren's Jenson Button is out of contract with the Woking based outfit and has yet to open talks with the team with regards to extending his deal with the team and has stated that he would like to stay on with the team next season when they enter their new era with Honda.

McLaren has also stated that they are currently in no hurry to decide on the their driver line-up for 2015. It has been suggested that the team could potentially replace both Jenson Button and Kevin Magnussen but the team have struggled with the MP4-29 so far this season so the team will be hoping for another step forward following Button's fourth place finish last time out at the Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring last weekend.

© Ben Johnston 2014