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[Hammer278]

They feel he's abandoning them, he feels abandoned from the team, the tension rises, it's a normal thing.

exactly! and when this happens in all relationshiops as we all know from simply being human beings....peoples allegiances change and its very easy to make decisions based on emotion which in this case could simply be the idea of having Jenson as the current world campion driving for them next season or it might actually be that reason plus a little bit of spite too. Its a possibility and to say it isn't a possibility is garbage.

Jenson is not the current world champion.

But it is fishy alright...right after Lewis switches allegiance, he has been slower than Button in Practice both in Suzuka and here. Ok, he was fast in P1 but that seems to have gone out the window now.

LOL thats right he is not a current world champion yet....but my whole point is based on having a current world world champion driving for you next season....so if he wins the title this season he will be the current world champion next season.

If he or McLaren even THINKS Button could win the WDC this season, they're even dumber than I thought.

Well the smart thing to do would be to back Hamilton 100% right? doesn't look like thats happening to me

Martin Whitmarsh made a big speech about (we got 6 races to go and the aim is for Lewis to win all 6)...this was pre Suzuka. Then comes Suzuka, and Lewis has a 'rear suspension issue' which they could not sort out during whole of qualifying, or race...rather, they find out days later. Then now comes Korea, first practice where everyone does a shakedown with the new updates, Lewis is fastest...then comes Practice 2 after some tinkering around and he's suddenly nowhere again.

If this continues into Qualifying and he qualifies behind Button again, there's some serious sh*t going on behind the scenes at McLaren.

[Neo]

Do the teams get money for producing the WDC's car? (not the WCC car)

yeah they get a lot of money for winning the constructors, my counter argument is that having a reigning world champion driving for you during the season brings a lot of commercial value too....so perhaps they are willing to gamble by backing Button and hoping they can still win the constructors regardless. Its a gamble yes but one i believe they are willing to make.

[Neo]

They feel he's abandoning them, he feels abandoned from the team, the tension rises, it's a normal thing.

exactly! and when this happens in all relationshiops as we all know from simply being human beings....peoples allegiances change and its very easy to make decisions based on emotion which in this case could simply be the idea of having Jenson as the current world campion driving for them next season or it might actually be that reason plus a little bit of spite too. Its a possibility and to say it isn't a possibility is garbage.

Jenson is not the current world champion.

But it is fishy alright...right after Lewis switches allegiance, he has been slower than Button in Practice both in Suzuka and here. Ok, he was fast in P1 but that seems to have gone out the window now.

LOL thats right he is not a current world champion yet....but my whole point is based on having a current world world champion driving for you next season....so if he wins the title this season he will be the current world champion next season.

If he or McLaren even THINKS Button could win the WDC this season, they're even dumber than I thought.

Well the smart thing to do would be to back Hamilton 100% right? doesn't look like thats happening to me

Martin Whitmarsh made a big speech about (we got 6 races to go and the aim is for Lewis to win all 6)...this was pre Suzuka. Then comes Suzuka, and Lewis has a 'rear suspension issue' which they could not sort out during whole of qualifying, or race...rather, they find out days later. Then now comes Korea, first practice where everyone does a shakedown with the new updates, Lewis is fastest...then comes Practice 2 after some tinkering around and he's suddenly nowhere again.

If this continues into Qualifying and he qualifies behind Button again, there's some serious sh*t going on behind the scenes at McLaren.

Yep i agree, after qualifying if Lewis does not have the pace then i am a true believer that the team have made a clear decision to back Jenson...maybe i would have had an element of doubt if Lewis was slow in P1 too but he was looking sharp, the car was responding to him and it looked like pre-Japan where he was getting the best out of the car for 3 out of the 4 races prior.

[darwin dali]

[racechick]

whitmarsh is probably prepared to gamble with the WCC to stop himself looking so stupid for backing Button and letting Lewis walk. if he can make Jenson look better and slow Lewis over the next few races, he won't look such a plonker.

[f1boy]

Like I've said before, it looks to me like McLAren don't want to win championships these days.
Backing Jenson over Lewis is ridiculous imo. An F1 team usually gives priority to their fastest driver........but not at McLaren.

How can they call themselves a professional team? Personal likes/dislikes shouldn't play any part in Whitmarsh's stategy. McLaren are making themselves look like clowns.

[vaptin]

Always someone elses fault, never Lewis's. . . it was like this last year with Massa and the other on-track incidents, Lewis was the one with all the penalties, but no, the stewards all hated him, Jenson could never match Lewis fairly, he has to have undermined him, is Lewis happy? I'm sure he isn't, but he's easily upset, it's not that big an indicator.

McLaren are still spending loads of time and money on setting up his car, giving him upgrades and the like, they have no advantage in slowing him down.

Personally I think the relationship is strained, but it has been for a long time, his race engineer always sounds cautious when talking to Lewis, like he doesn't want to upset him, I think McLaren will miss Lewis's speed, but they are probably looking forward to having someone far more professional joining the team. Lewis has been frustrated with Mclaren, but I think it applies the other way too, they want a greater sense of loyalty and faith from Lewis that he doesn't need to react so strongly when things go wrong, I think leaving will hopefully be a fresh start for both. I bet with a different driver in Perez, Mclaren find making stragety decisions, helping him setup far more easier, and we'll have to see if Mercedes are still suffering from tyre degradation and racing to get into Q2 next year, and how long Lewis will want to give them.

Ferrari have made far more mistakes than Mclaren, but Alonso and Massa have consistently stuck with supporting the team publicly, although Webber and Vettel have made their feelings clear quite a few times, but it never seems to linger as long as it does with Hamilton, plus the nature of the complaints are different.

Back to this raced, I think it is Hamilton's mentality that is the question, not McLaren's, but maybe he is finding they are caring less about him now.

--
No one is backing Jenson over Lewis, you guys are the only ones saying it, I've still failed to see evidence of this.

[vlad]

Vettel and Webber are keeping it professional, better than talking crap about each other. And I like that. If they're not in "friend-like" relationship, they should do what they are payed for.

[f1boy]

In Red Bull, Seb is the priority.

In Ferrari, Alonso is the priority.

Why is Lewis (i.e the fastest driver in the team) not McLaren's priorty?

[vaptin]

In Red Bull, Seb is the priority.

In Ferrari, Alonso is the priority.

Why is Lewis (i.e the fastest driver in the team) not McLaren's priorty?

No idea, but Brawn said he won't be a priority at Mercedes too, so that throws into doubt that being a relevant factor to Lewis's relationship with McLaren.

[vlad]

In Red Bull the one who scores more points is priority.
In Ferrari it's always 1 driver.

[f1boy]

Lewis has scored the most points this season so why is he not the priority at McLaren right now?

Why are McLaren still talking about everyone being equal?

Don't they want to win a championship?

[vlad]

And how do you expect they should do that?

[f1boy]

Make Button the backup man rather than having him take points off Lewis.

[andrew]

The Constructors is any teams priority, not the drivers.