Kevin Magnussen will not be in Austin or Mexico.
Before McLaren announced its impending split with the Danish reserve driver, Magnussen stopped coming to grands prix due to breaking his hand in a cycling accident.
But that was almost 6 weeks ago, which according to some is long enough for a hand to heal. Not only that, chiefs Eric Boullier and Ron Dennis had indicated Magnussen would receive specialist care to speed up his recovery.
But a McLaren spokesman told the Danish newspaper BT: "While Kevin is making good progress, he still is not 100 per cent recovered, and therefore he will not be either in Austin or in Mexico."
It is believed Magnussen’s longer term replacement as McLaren reserve will be Stoffel Vandoorne.