Its good to hear these comments

I wonder what the thread will be like come Friday post practise next week.

Ha ha, I like that. Mr Lover Lover.

jenson won a karting duel with lewis, and the press

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/motorspor...s-Hamilton.html

Well if that doesn't make up for the Top Gear loss, I don't know what will!

Now it's obvious Jenson Button is the better driver. And this isn't even close to not writing on a non-sarcastic way. Not.

Lewis was in a generous mood

Jenson special on BBC 1 this afternoon.

I cant believe the BBC is not doing a 2010 season preview.

Jenson must of been going all out

LMAO.. Pepsi came out of my nose. Thanks.

Why? They didn't do one last year either.

Silly me.

http://translate.google.com.au/translate?u...l=&ie=UTF-8

I think he's calling Jenson a poof. The *******. Or bi. He's calling him bi, at least. Maybe poof. No, it's bi. It's just so wrong.

Christ, don't give the bashers another excuse for a bash thread please.

I've just seen a web chat between the BBC F1 team of Jonathan "commentator of the year" Legard, Martin Brundle, Eddie Jordan and David Coulthard - http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport...one/8549762.stm - and the bias towards Button was astonishing considering they are both British. At the end, Legard even says he wishes Button could win but thinks Lewis will.

Us British Hamfans are in for a frustrating time this year.

off topic from your point but i also watched that and loved how legard was saying stuff that nobody else could reply too because half the time he didn't seem too know what he was talking about. the guy frustrates the hell out of me

So true.

At one point i think David and Martin were actually taking the p*ss out of him regarding his view on the new teams entry into formula one. whenever he spoke he also go interupted.

Eddie Jordan is such a Lewis fanboy

I actually would have preferred if someone picked Jenson... none of the pundits are picking him but they are all hiding behind the "this is Lewis territory thing" none thinks maybe Lewis will just be plain faster.

I reckon they all think Lewis is simply faster, they just don't want to say so. Eddie nearly did, but bottled/had an earpiece with the PC Auntie producer panicking in it .

That's what I gathered too.

Eddie is a character and a half.

Oh I dunno. I think you'll be the ones with the smug grins on

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/motorsport...one/8551538.stm

top notch preview article of the battle btw both

for Ham fans, this excerpt stands out



that relentless aggressiveness of Lewis is gonna be the hardest thing for Jenson to match

The whole thing was a bit ridiculous. Legard was/is an embarrassment. Brundle a bit grumpy. DC such a Red Bull corporate man. I actually thought Jordan spoke the most sense and didn't just toe the party line. He was right about Mercedes/Brawn not actually wanting Button so he didn't have many choices as to where to go. And you're right - they kept saying Lewis would be faster just because he's been in the team longer. Pah!

if you look at the 09 season ej had the most things right
as i told before im not a jenson fan and i still think it was more the car than the driver that made him WC
not that hes a bad driver but i think lewis has something special wath button doesnt have
but aslong hes better than kov wat i realy believe he is than there will be no problem
there will be no fireworks between them because i belive button is man enough to accept his defeat if he was defeated
theres no shame in being defeated by lewis
and they seems to get along just fine so lets all enjoy a good season for mclaren

Both sets of beliefs - Hamilton's and Button's - cannot survive this season..................The last line from Mark Hughes BBC story.

I will give them 3 to 4 Gp,s and they will not be talking

I was quite happy that none of them gave Jenson a prayer. Humble pies to be served.

I noticed from recent press coverage that Lewis is back with Nicole and in fact was pictured with her last weekend in Los Angeles for the Oscars ceremony. I presume he will be hacking it to Bahrain pretty sharpish after the weekend. I also noticed from Lance Armstrong's twitter feed that he flies all over the place and felt that a 12 hour flight to South Africa was a problem for his muscles and used a vacuum machine to cover his legs to prevent fluid build up and suchlike. Button is supposedly already in the Middle East acclimatising. Two points: shouldn't Lewis be also concentrating on the race and secondly what toll does international air travel have on his body?

I think the answer is clear. Repeat 2007 - bitter unsportsmanlike fight to the finish, followed by an implosion. Someone else wins. Vettel or Schumi prolly.

I really cant see Button getting anywhere near Lewis this season.

He is new to the team and has hardly had the chance to get to know the car and the team. Lewis, on the otherhand, has been there for ages. He knows the car like the back of his hand so he'll be able to hit the ground running so to speak.

It'll take Button at least 6 races to get on top of things by which time Lewis will have amassed an unassailable lead over the current WDC.

I think many people rate Hamilton ahead of Button because he matched Alonso as a rookie and comfortably beat Heikki.

But I think Button would have stacked up well against Alonso and beaten Heikki.

Can't see a lot in it myself. Hamilton probably ultimately quicker, but its not a season of qualifying laps, I think its close enough for luck, tyres, reliability, form, etc all to play a part. I think it will be close.

I really dont see it like that, if Button will be close to Lewis which I think he should be, then he will be close come Sunday in Bahrain.
Its not like Lewis has been driving the car llast season or anything like that. the 25 is totally diff. from the 24.

If Lewis has a big lead after the first 6 races and is generally blowing him away, then that lead is more likely to keep increasing the rest of the season (albeit perhaps at a smaller rate)


Basically, acclimatising to the team wont give a huge performance diff. some are making it out to be.... we've seen Kimi move to Ferrari and immediately be fast, Vettel same in Red Bull and probably Alonso will do the same this season.

Even Jenson has been talking up how much he already feels a part of the team, and how he has been able to be up to speed quickly.

Its an interesting article but MPH is wrong, even using his own analysis. LH's mentality cannot survive a loss but if JB loses he can rationalise it away by Macca being LH's team (unless of course he is decimated... maybe that's what MPH expects to happen and the faulty analysis is actually a freudian slip).

The difference in the old days is that testing wasn't limited. Jenson has probably had a maximum of 1 week in the car - a new car, new controls, new team and work ethic. Hamilton has had 3 seasons of it. Add that to Jenson's difficulty adjusting to a car that isn't 'perfect' and it is fair to assume that he will struggle at least to begin with.

Thereafter the pressure and incessant silly questions from the hacks will consume him and affect his driving. Look out for questions like

'do you think Lewis is getting preferential treatment'
'why were you on a 3 stop strategy, lewis on a 2 when a 2 was obviously the quicker strategy'
'did you make a mistake joining this team'

Etc etc.

I could of course be wrong but I doubt it - I've been watching F1 too long.

DC makes an interesting observation about Buttons move to McLaren. He said that when he moved to Red Bull, McLaren was willing to sell them a steering wheel so DC had a control set he was fully comfortable with. It enables a driver to react instinctively rather than have to think about where the brake bias control (for example) is. Unless Button has been putting serious time into the simulator, he's going to have a hard time getting used to the car itself, and if the drivers are close anyway, this alone might be the edge Hamilton needs.

I'd argue that the resticted testing is actually an equalizer. This is a new car, sure Hamilton has had 3 years at McLaren but not 3 years in the new car, he's had the same amount of time as Jenson - very little and Jenson looked and sounded just as happy as Hamilton with the car and his pace by the end of the Barca test. The rules are different this year so its all very well knowing the team, but the race weekend strategy will be new for both of them in the non-refuel era.

I agree that history tells us that its increadibly difficult to come in and beat the established driver, but equally, there is not much evidence that this is a reason why the new guy would be blown away.

Yeh, but I would suspect a great deal of time and care has been taken to tailor the car to Jenson's exact requirements already. To site this as a reason for reduced performance would just be looking for an excuse in my opinion. He himself has said he's never felt better prepared for what is ahead of him. Looking forward to seeing how he does. To generalise, the races might be better to him than the qualifying.

I guess they could redesign Button´s steering wheel to match the pattern he had at Brawn. That wouldn´t be very difficult.

Well I was thinking after I posted that about a post someone made in the depths of the MP4-25 thread which talked about a new steering wheel for McMerc and a comment about its similarity to Brawn. I need to go dig it out...

Edit: Yeah here it is. Not really a 'considered' comparison

A question to the Brits here. Is the preference Button v Hammy have anything to do with your location? Is there a regional sect that roots for one or the other?

Does anyone think that if the roles were reversed we would be suggesting that LH would need any time to get up to speed to start beating JB?

Also, I have not noticed anyone suggesting that FA may have a hard time besting FM because he is not used to Ferrari's steering wheel.... c'mon guys lets get serious. This is about which driver has more speed, racecraft and nous and political skill ....not who is used to a steering wheel.

I dont put a lot of store in anything DC says. In 07 he felt LH should have become a test driver. Now he thinks that JB's main disadvantage is that his is not used to the team - has he forgotten that KR came to Macca and was instantly faster than him?... and what about the obvious. LH is very very quick, very adaptable and an extermely fast leaner whilst good driver that he is, JB has not done anything in 10 years to make us think that he has these qualities in similar abundance. Why couldnt any of the BBC panel just come out and say this???

People are being kind to Jense by talking about the acclimatisation. Nobody's saying that about Alonso.

edit: snap JJ

To be honest I wasn't too much of an enthusiast about formula 1. Most of the Schummi times were boring to me...But when Lewis came to the seen I started reading it on papers; there was some en-thesis on his background that I could some what relate too. Plus I always had a knack for british talent.

EJ is awesome too. He says what he likes and we need more of it. When he is wrong he admits to it which is what I like.

but thing is even if Lewis beats him fair and square, the press will still ask those questions.

@Buttoneer, Jenson has indeed spent a lot of time in the simulator and has been talking up how comfortable he already is with the car.

Jenson is no rookie, his 10 year experience will count for something when it comes to getting up to speed with a new car and as we know, Mclaren have done everything possible to make him feel comfortable and level the playing field.

Even giving Lewis a new race engineer.

Any clear pattern that forms after the first 6 or 8 races pure performance wise wont be magically reversed in the rest of the season. I dont see the new team factor having that much effect.

A lot is down to luck too, Lewis could easily have a first lap incident or faulty car, and Jenson cruise to victory in Bahrain.

I think its gonna be fairly close from the first race but I expect Lewis to edge it overall, not because its Lewis team but because I think he is the better driver.... and I think that will show.

excuses of Lewis backyard would be thin, especially with the painstaking effort of Mclaren to provide both with equal environments.

And I agree with Whitmarsh, they'd fall out at some point in the season. but its probably just gonna be the british, cold shoulder thing instead of fireworks...

Look, they both have equal equipment and equal treatment. I don't subscribe to this idea that Lewis knows the car more - it is a totally redesigned car. Alonso stepped into a Ferrari and was up to speed. Schumacher stepped into a Mercedes after 3 years out and was up to speed. I hate the excuses being rolled out for Button. If one goes faster, it will be because they are the better driver. I hope that their strategies and engineers are equally optimised or I will be unhappy about it. All being equal, we will see who is the best.

But God, what if Button beats Lewis? The F1 world will implode!

I don't think you have fully understood the point made, in this case by DC, about familiarity with the car controls.

I am a Brit and personally never usually root for British or English sports people. I root for who I like. I loathe nationalism. I live in London and root for Lewis because of his character and ability.

I think that any future argument that Jenson "needed time to get used to the car" doesn't hold water. Lewis could be said to have not been completely used to the car for his first season and he didn't seem to do too badly.

Well now that you ask: I actually think this team will implode first. Massa has already been about attacking Alonso and then trying to backpedal out of his comments. But it is really difficult to explain a positive meaning behind basically calling someone a 'liar and cheat'. That team is doomed to conflict - the only advantage for them is that they are both very used to it - but I doubt that helps in the end. So really, any advantage that is possible - steering wheel or otherwise - will be taken as I see it between these hot tempered souls.

I think Lewis and Button will start off better, cooler blood, more patience - but in the end you'll just have an english version of the above latin dance.

No, the argument isn't solely about acclimitisation. Lewis is rated as one of the best drivers in F1 - in his rookie year he matched and beat the great Alonso. He is a WDC, the youngest at that and he has been at the one team for his entire F1 career.

Button on the other hand is a journey man. Some say he lucked out in winning his WDC as his car had a significant performance advantage. He is an above avergae driver but not in the league of the Hamilton's, Alonso's etc

When you then add the new team factor and the lack of on track testing, the differnce in ability will be exacerbated by his lack of running in the car. It will be a blood bath IMO.

Then again Button could prove 99% of F1 fans out there wrong and match Lewis. Unlikely