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[killem2]

I have also seen lots of tweets and comments on other boards, there may only be a few on this forum, or maybe my perspective is skewed because I have been hearing the same thing for 12 mths! There really is no conspiracy, favouritism is part and parcel of F1 as I pointed out previously, I also get annoyed as JB's achievements are dismissed because of LH supposedly being screwed!

I with ya. These people should think about this for a moment.

If in 2009, lewis is god, and button is nothing but lucky because of his car. Why would Mclaren, a team who isn't a virgin to racing, take button, to replace LEWIS HAMILITON.

I mean this isn't a case of felipe massa here, the only indication that would lead anyone to believe Button was taken on to replace hamiliton was his WC in 2009, which at that point HAMILITON was the DEFENDING champion!!!!

Round 2, sadly was just a fluke. I'm sure if it hadn't rained, hamiliton would have stormed in first with a fastest lap, and button would have been second. I really don't see it any other way.

We already know what happened in round 1.

So, to the fan boys and fan girls, keep your panties on, there are many more races for you to be able to eat your words with.

Button getting favored over hamiliton... what a ridiculous notion.

[cheekybru]

Id just like to say i agree with RC on what she was saying earlier, for the first (or second i cant remember right now) stop i posted on here at the time saying "whichever driver mclaren pit first is gonna win" and then they pit button first , that extra lap was the reason lewis got boxed in by the ferraris, so that first stop cost lewis 10-13 seconds and 2 places, not to mention the time he lost to alonso coming out behind button.

Im not saying he would have won, but its so hard (and risky) to make up that sort of gap in those conditions, in my eyes he needs a new race engineer, one that will see the guys on new tires going 5 seconds a lap faster and pit him straight away, like anyone with a brain would do. While its true what people are saying about it being a drivers decision to pit, thats what the engineer is for, and hes got access to all the data which the driver dosnt have.

[What's Burning?]

McLaren screwed the pooch tactically in the race. It's not like it hasn't happened before. They also make good calls, it's just that of late most gambles haven't paid off. This year, with the fastest car on the grid at this point, they haven't had to gamble, so it's been over conservatism that's cost them.

We move on to China, and Mclaren is still the team to shoot for, let's focus on that. I just hope that someone keeps an eye on Lewis if he goes partying in China after a race win.

[McLaren]

Could it not just be the case of McLaren were covering what Vettel done rather than Alonso or Perez. As they believe he will be the main challenger for the tittle.Simply just finish infront of him and it's a good day ?.Anything else would of been a bonus.
edit ; Thats a blind guess,I don't know when Vettel pitted,also they were just being safe,making sure Lewis finished the race anyway.

[acosmichippo]

maybe not specifically Vettel, but clearly from the radio logs RC posted, the engineer was mainly focused on the tire choices of Red Bull (especially at the beginning of the race).

[LewEngBridewell]

Could it not just be the case of McLaren were covering what Vettel done rather than Alonso or Perez. As they believe he will be the main challenger for the tittle.Simply just finish infront of him and it's a good day ?.Anything else would of been a bonus.
edit ; Thats a blind guess,I don't know when Vettel pitted,also they were just being safe,making sure Lewis finished the race anyway.

That's a good point, especially when you consider that the RBR is more likely to be taking a tilt at the title than Sauber or the Scuderia. IMO anyway.

[racechick]

Could it not just be the case of McLaren were covering what Vettel done rather than Alonso or Perez. As they believe he will be the main challenger for the tittle.Simply just finish infront of him and it's a good day ?.Anything else would of been a bonus.
edit ; Thats a blind guess,I don't know when Vettel pitted,also they were just being safe,making sure Lewis finished the race anyway.

If they were covering Vettel, then they failed miserably at that too. Lewis lost 8.616 seconds to him at the last pitstop ( and 12.597 to Button). That is HUGE.
Still doesnt explain why they pitted Button first everytime when he was the second placed driver. At the second pitstop after Lewis had said the time was right for inters THE TEAM decided to bring Button in.

[acosmichippo]

Could it not just be the case of McLaren were covering what Vettel done rather than Alonso or Perez. As they believe he will be the main challenger for the tittle.Simply just finish infront of him and it's a good day ?.Anything else would of been a bonus.
edit ; Thats a blind guess,I don't know when Vettel pitted,also they were just being safe,making sure Lewis finished the race anyway.

If they were covering Vettel, then they failed miserably at that too. Lewis lost 8.616 seconds to him at the last pitstop ( and 12.597 to Button). That is HUGE.
Still doesnt explain why they pitted Button first everytime when he was the second placed driver. At the second pitstop after Lewis had said the time was right for inters THE TEAM decided to bring Button in.

(emphasis added)

That's what you're inferring from 4 lines in a radio transcript. I'm sorry, but you just don't know what reasons they had for doing what they did. You don't know that "The Team" chose to pit Jenson instead of Lewis. It's a decision between the driver and engineer, and only if the decision interferes with the other car, "The Team" gets involved. We've seen McLaren change cars tires back-to-back already this year, and the drivers were not even that close to each other at the time, so they could have managed it if Lewis really wanted to pit.

[racechick]

Now come on.The team sit together on the pitwall and make decisions. Those lines of transcript are direct from McLaren. No I dont know why they did it, you're right there, but I can hazzard a guess.

[killem2]

Well, you are basically assuming mclaren are lying aren't you?

They have said time and time again, they give preference to the lead car in regards to pitting. Isn't it as simple as, lewis ok'd for button to go in? We don't hear all the radio talk, and I bet there was a few lines from lewis asking, if I'm going to fall behind if I pit now.


What place did hamiliton get? Oh yea a podium, button was left with vettel in no mans land.

[acosmichippo]

Now come on.The team sit together on the pitwall and make decisions. Those lines of transcript are direct from McLaren. No I dont know why they did it, you're right there, but I can hazzard a guess.

So you're telling me Martin Whitmarsh heard Lewis say he was ready for inters, then told Jenson's engineer to pit Jenson?

[racechick]

Well, you are basically assuming mclaren are lying aren't you?

They have said time and time again, they give preference to the lead car in regards to pitting. Isn't it as simple as, lewis ok'd for button to go in? We don't hear all the radio talk, and I bet there was a few lines from lewis asking, if I'm going to fall behind if I pit now.


What place did hamiliton get? Oh yea a podium, button was left with vettel in no mans land.

Button and Vettel's accident caused that not the pit wall strategy. Those transcripts were live as the race unfolded. Live timing.

[racechick]

Now come on.The team sit together on the pitwall and make decisions. Those lines of transcript are direct from McLaren. No I dont know why they did it, you're right there, but I can hazzard a guess.

So you're telling me Martin Whitmarsh heard Lewis say he was ready for inters, then told Jenson's engineer to pit Jenson?

Well one would hope not. But following Lewis comment that its ok for inters Jenson is pitted.....from second place.

[myownalias]

Don't read too much into radio messages you hear on the air, often they are incomplete and out of time with the actual pictures being seen!

[What's Burning?]

Now come on.The team sit together on the pitwall and make decisions. Those lines of transcript are direct from McLaren. No I dont know why they did it, you're right there, but I can hazzard a guess.

So you're telling me Martin Whitmarsh heard Lewis say he was ready for inters, then told Jenson's engineer to pit Jenson?

Well one would hope not. But following Lewis comment that its ok for inters Jenson is pitted.....from second place.

Dammit woman, if you're a Lewis fan, you should be going crazy over the fact that he's got the best car under him he's had in years and the best opportunity to win a WDC also in years, perhaps the "maturity" gained will help.

McLaren F'ed up, is there something insidious going on? I don't believe so and it would be hard to prove otherwise.