BUXTON: Retirement, McLaren-style

When is a retirement not a retirement?

Seemingly it is when one bids farewell to McLaren.

I always found it rather sad that Mika Hakkinen, the mighty two-time Formula 1 world champion and reportedly the only racing driver whom Michael Schumacher ever truly feared, was never afforded the send-off from the sport which his talent, achievements and the high regard in which he was held, deserved.

It was 15 years ago that Hakkinen (ABOVE) announced he would be taking a sabbatical from Formula 1. A long career, two world championships... the fight had taken its toll.

"My will to drive has not gone away," he explained. "The point here is that my body will get a bit of a rest. I need that, since right now I cannot perform to my maximum, which I want to do."

The intention was always for Mika to return in 2003. Perhaps in place of David Coulthard. Perhaps in place of the Finn's own replacement, his compatriot and young buck Kimi Raikkonen (BELOW, RIGHT). He was still relatively unproven after a single season at Sauber, so if his potential wasn't realized they could always bin him and bring the champ back.

I couldn't help but think of Mika when McLaren announced its "innovative" approach to its 2017 driver line-up. Jenson, it proudly boasted, had agreed a two-year extension to his deal with the team, but would be taking a break from the actual racing next year. He'd still be developing the car, just not actually competing. He still had the fire, you understand, he just needed a bit of a rest.

Words that sounded oddly familiar.

48 hours earlier, Williams had announced that their driver Felipe Massa and Deputy Team Principal Claire Williams would be holding a joint press conference. The Williams motorhome was duly filled to the rafters come 13:45.

With tears in his eyes, a clipboard gripped in his shaking hands with a list of people to thank scrawled in pen, the hugely popular Brazilian announced his retirement on Thursday afternoon in Monza. He received an applause which went on for so long, he could no longer contain his emotions. In his own words and at his own pace, he determined his own destiny.

At the time of writing, Felipe Massa has amassed 245 Grand Prix starts, 41 podiums, 16 poles, 15 fastest laps, 11 wins and, for the briefest of moments, a Formula 1 world championship.

The announcement of his retirement was classy and dignified, in a manner reflective of the respect a decade and a half in the sport merits.

Over at McLaren, the 2009 Formula 1 world champion was awarded no such honor. Every Saturday, McLaren hosts "Meet the Team," an opportunity for the media to pose questions of drivers and team chiefs. After a disappointing qualifying session, it wasn't a massive priority on the list of places to be.

And yet it was here, in front of a handful of journalists, that Jenson Button announced what, in all probability, will become his retirement. Ron Dennis of course insisted this was NOT a retirement. Just a temporary employment readjustment. Probably. I wouldn't know. I wasn't there.

I'd have rather liked to have been, not least to hear from Jenson. Or to hear Ron fumble his way through another driver announcement as he'd done so gloriously at the start of 2015, when he mocked a disbelieving Kevin Magnussen at the MTC. Having told the Dane only minutes before that he was out of a race seat, Ron tried to ease the pain in front of the world's press by uttering the now immortal line, "Aww, look at his sad little face."

Gold!

And while one felt for Jenson and the ignominy afforded to a world champion with the seeming embarrassment of attempting to hide his retirement (not actually his retirement, of course) within a Qualifying Debrief, one also had to feel for Stoffel Vandoorne. This bizarre exercise also served to announce the incredible Belgian's full debut in the sport in 2017.

Stoffel Vandoorne is, alongside Lewis Hamilton, the single most exceptional talent I ever witnessed in GP2. Ten years previously, at Monza in 2006, Lewis Hamilton was told that he would be a McLaren race driver in 2007. He would be partnered by two-time Formula 1 world champion Fernando Alonso. It seemed fitting that a decade on, another great GP2 champion should learn of his fate at La Pista Magica. And that he too, like Lewis, would be partnered by Alonso for his debut season in F1 at McLaren.

Now, I'm not sure Stoffel cares one way or another how the announcement was made. The fact is he's got the contract his talent has been crying out to be granted for years. Only McLaren's dithering has halted the relentless advance of this immensely talented young man. But as I stated in this column a few weeks ago, one cannot stem the tide forever.

What does it say of the team's confidence in Vandoorne however, or the pressure that will be placed on him, that it was made clear that Jenson Button would be on stand-by should things not work out?

World champions have taken sabbaticals and made triumphant returns. Niki Lauda and Alain Prost, of course, both won championships after taking a year out.

But not Mika Hakkinen. The phenomenal Finn would never start another Grand Prix. One day he was a champion. The next he was gone.

The problem, of course, was that the young man brought in to replace him had proved to be rather talented. Even as a world champion, there was no longer a seat at the table for Mika Hakkinen. This mighty champion was forced to retreat. No platitudes could be granted, no celebrations thrown. No farewells extended. An incredible career simply fizzled into obscurity.

I fear the same fate will now befall Jenson Button.

The Brit admitted on Sunday that his 2016 Italian Grand Prix had not been his finest hour. He'd been too caught up in the emotion of the weekend. What emotion? As we keep being told, it's not like he'd just announced his retirement.

In Felipe Massa and Jenson Button, the sport of Formula 1 will lose two of its most gifted drivers and fiercest warriors at the end of 2016. More than that, it will lose two of its most loved and respected men.

Both deserve farewells befitting their place in this sport's rich history. Both deserve to walk away with their heads held high. How sad that only one will be afforded that chance.

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