Magnussen to get 2nd McLaren seat

If Ron Dennis can get the Denmark billionaires to cough up money, Magnussen will be a shoe-in for the 2nd McLaren seat

When in doubt, follow the money, and that is exactly what Ron Dennis is doing. The difference between F1 and IndyCar is that McLaren is pursuing the money instead of waiting for the drivers to pursue the money and bring them the check. McLaren has a past winning reputation to sell to a sponsor, some IndyCar teams who rely on ride buyer money never win championships so what do they have to sell a sponsor? NBCSN 0.3 TV ratings?

You understand the point – it's a revolving door of ride-buyer after ride-buyer.

The McLaren F1 team still has to decide who will join Fernando Alonso (although the Spaniard has still not yet been officially confirmed) but the choice seems to be between Jenson Button, Kevin Magnussen and Stoffel Vandoorne. There has been talk of Telefonica coming in to sponsor the team with its Movistar brand and in recent days Ron Dennis was spotted in Denmark. He is believed to have been in talks with Anders Holch Povlsen, the owner of the fashion retail business Bestseller, who is reckoned to be worth around $4.8 billion from apparel and accessories sold under 11 different brand names.

Holch Povlsen has been a supporter of Kevin Magnussen for several years with his Jack & Jones brand and is already a McLaren sponsor with the asos.com brand. He is also big on environmental causes and owns more than 130,000 acres in Scotland, on which he is planting trees.

Denmark is a country with a number of huge companies, notably the transportation conglomerate A.P. Moller–Maersk Group, the pharmaceutical firm Novo Nordisk, which uses motor racing to highlight its diabetes treatments in the US, Danske Bank and the Carlsberg brewing company.

There are also high worth individuals such as Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen, who is reckoned to be worth $10.6 billion as a result of his Lego empire. Kristiansen was spotted in the F1 paddock in Monza this year and Lego currently has a promotion ongoing with Ferrari and Shell. Dennis has already said that he would like to see Danish companies support the efforts of Magnussen. The remarks were echoed by Lars Seier Christensen, the CEO of investment bank Saxo.

It is worth noting also that there are stories in the Danish newspaper Herning Folkeblad suggesting that a working group is due to meet with F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone to discuss a potential Danish Grand Prix for 2018. The group is being represented by politician Helge Sander, who served as the Minister for Science until February 2010. It is reported that a meeting is scheduled for January. Sander has confirmed the bid. In part from Joe Saward