Danish driver Kevin Magnussen has emerged as a surprise candidate to replace the embattled Sergio Perez at McLaren next year.
According to a BBC Sport report, young Magnussen has been linked to the seat after claiming the Formula Renault 3.5 Series this year.
The son of former McLaren racer Jan Magnussen has been a development driver for the F1 squad since last year.
Along with Belgian Stoffel Vandoorne, who topped both sessions on the final day of GP2 Series post-season testing in Abu Dhabi yesterday, Magnussen is held in high regard by the Woking team.
Even allowing for the uncompetitiveness of McLaren’s 2013 F1 machine, Perez has not met team expectations in his maiden season with the famous squad.
Team chief Martin Whitmarsh is claimed to have been underwhelmed by Perez’s performance in the recent Abu Dhabi GP.
According to the BBC report, Whitmarsh has said that the team will announce who will drive alongside Jenson Button in 2014 in the near future.
