McLaren drivers Jenson Button, left, of Great Britain and Kevin Magnussen, right, of Finland walk in the paddock following practice for the Bahrain Grand Prix at the Bahrain International Circuit on April 19, 2013 in Sakhir, Bahrain. Mark Thompson / Getty Images
McLaren drivers Jenson Button, left, of Great Britain and Kevin Magnussen, right, of Finland walk in the paddock following practice for the Bahrain Grand Prix at the Bahrain International Circuit on AShow more

McLaren team principal Dennis urges Button to ‘try harder’



Jenson Button has been told to raise his game by McLaren boss Ron Dennis ahead of this weekend's British Grand Prix.
The contract of Button, 34, a former Formula One world champion, expires at the end of the season, and he has been told to "try harder" by Dennis.
Button is eighth in this season's drivers standings, 122 points behind leader Nico Rosberg of Mercedes-GP, with only one podium finish to his name during the first eight races of the season.
However, Button, who has 43 points, is 14 in front of rookie McLaren teammate Kevin Magnussen, and Dennis, while accepting that neither of his drivers has the best car on the grid, said he believes the veteran Briton ought to be further in front of the Danish newcomer.
"I'm happy with the drivers in the sense I think they are giving their best," Dennis told Sky Sports on Monday.
"I'm sure Kevin is giving a big wake-up call to Jenson. In some ways you say, 'Great, we've made a great choice with Kevin'.
"But in other ways you say, 'Come on Jenson, you are a world champion and absolutely one thing you can do on a consistent basis – and you should be doing it – is beating your teammate'.
"Do I want him to try harder? Of course I do. He's a highly paid grand prix driver.
"Yes, we are not giving him the best car. Yes, it would be challenging for him to win in this car, to say the least, but he could do his bit and Kevin has to make it as difficult for him as possible."
Button has more points than Magnussen, but the pair have been evenly matched in qualifying, with the score locked at 4-4 in their own intra-team battle.
In Austria last month, Magnussen qualified sixth, to Button's 12th, and was four-tenths of a second quicker than the Briton.
He translated that in the race to seventh place, four spots ahead of his teammate.
As for the team's driver line-up for next season, Dennis said: "We want to win races and we would always hope the best available drivers would wish to drive our cars.
"The key word is 'available', because people have contracts and we respect those contracts.
"If Lewis [Hamilton] was in a position to drive for us next year, as with many of the other top drivers if they were in that position, we would love to have them on board.
"No one should ever feel threatened, either as a driver or as an engineer. All we want to do is win and we have to take considered positions and considered decisions on that process."
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