Button???

[tiggers]

OK forget worrying about Massa who is a contracted number 2 anyway, what's the thinking on Jenson right now?

A blip?

The car is relatively poor now due to a lack of devleopment and Lewis is driving out of his skin to put it where it shouldn't be?

The loss of the exhaust blown difffuser suits Button a lot less than Hamilton and others (some merit in this argument given he won his championship in the double diffuser bestowed Brawn).

A combination of all three?

It is odd though how dominant he was in Aus just 8 races back compared to how mediocre he seems now!

Your thoughts?

[GJ]

I think you are right that the car isn't too good and that Hamilton is flattering the car no end. On top of that throughout his F1-career it has always been clear that Button is average at best in a bad car (or at least a car that doesn't suit his fluid driving style). Give him a proper car that suits his style and he can be awesome like in Canada last year. All-in-all I think what we are witnessing now is the difference in talent between the two of them, most people always thought should become apparent at some time.

We have seen the same in the past at Ferrari in 2009 when Kimi drove a dog of car to places it should never have been, we have seen Schumacher do it in 2005 and 2006 with less than stellar Ferarri's and, dare I say it, we have seen Alonso do it last year and the beginning of this year.

Regards
GJ

[tiggers]

Flipping heck ... I agree with you.

I think Alonso is still doing it right now as I doubt many could put that car where he does. (No that doesn't mean I suddenly like him, I respect his ability though).

JB is a bit of an enigma to me as until last year I had him pegged as a good ,but not great, driver and then last year he seemed to be getting better and better...... in Aus this year he was excellent too, but now..... he seems way way off the pace of his team mate.

I know Lewis is good and in a bad car, like Alonso and Schumacher, can make the difference, but the difference between them seems massive to me. I wonder if some of it is just a confidence issue.

[Podge 90]

I've said recently that he's either terrible at setup or is just fundamentally slow. His biggest issue is that he will never outperform his car.

He can't 'alf moan though.

At the moment, the disparity between Hamilton and Button is much larger than that of Alonso and Massa.

[GJ]

[kraut]

What I find so hard to understand is that Button was labeled as some sort of a "tyre whisperer"
during the last couple seasons and now that tyres are so disproportionally important, he is not able to deliver.
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another kraut in kanada

[Anfield5]

What has changed on the McLAren?

As already mentioned he was dominant in Aus, nobody could touch him. In Malaysia he looked good again until his brain-fade incident with Karth, and he was second next time out in China.

Since then he has had 8th in Valencia and 9th at Barcelona along with 2 16ths and an 18th. Obviously he hasn't siddenly forgotten how to drive, so what 'improvements' have the team made that are making him so uncompetitive?
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Movable body panels - welcome to the Wacky Races

[porscheman]

If the car is perfect, and everything goes just so, Button is amazing! Toss just a little set back or two into the equation, his confidence and innate ability turn to crap. Reminds me very much of Schumacher, the lesser, in that regard. Alonso, on the other hand, whole different story! The Scuderia could hand him a garden tractor and he'd push it as far to the front as it could possibly get! Note: I inherently dislike Alonso and am, in fact, very pro Button. However, them's the facts as I see them anyway. Even Hamilton will take the aforementioned lawn tractor, drive the wheels off it, then crash while trying to move it up the track!

[TokyoAussie]

I think the problem for Button is his inability to do whatever it takes to get his tyres in the "zone," and only then looking after them. He needs to adapt his style enough to get the tyres working first, and it just isn't happening. All we hear about is his lack of grip. A more talented driver would find a way. But it is about the only aspect of his style that is lacking. When he does get the tyres working, he is quick.

Of course, it is easy to say he isn't doing what is required. Right now, doing what it takes is difficult because nobody seems to know what that is yet. And there is the mark of Lewis and Fernando. They are giving solid performances from less than perfect packages. Now, that takes talent.

[Rob]

Jenson and Felipe are not doing enough at the moment to win the Constructors' Championship, while Mark is, albeit in the fastest car. This is part of the job and Jenson should realise that if the Drivers' Championship is out of his reach, he has to perform for the team.
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It's F1, Jim, but not as we know it.

[Ash]

It's a shame when a driver who can look so good in terms of pace and overtaking when things are right for him is reduced to looking like Bambi on ice when he can't get it to work.

In cricket, the phrase 'flat track bully' is used to describe batsmen who can dominate and hit high scores when the pitch favours them, but struggle in adverse, bowler-friendly conditions. I hope Jenson isn't remembered that way.

[The Rumble Strip]

There does indeed seem a question as to Jenson's ability to get the best out of a car, when it is not working at its optimum.

He made a comment the other week that it was impossible for it to just be him unable to get the tyres to work but sometimes results speak for themselves.

It's like the myth that surrounds him suggesting he is a great wet weather driver, I happen to think he is quite poor in full wet conditions, having binned it a number of times but is amazingly good in changeable conditions.

There's no doubt that he is a quality driver but Lewis has well and truly got one up on him this season.