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[deMuRe]

Some good points in this thread.

Jenson reminds be a bit of David Coulthard. An excellent number 2 driver, however he doesn't have what Martin Brundle keeps referring to as "The X Factor", that intangible quality that gives you an extra half a second a lap over your team mate.

Personality wise, he is superior to Hamilton. When Hamilton was making mistakes and blaming everyone but himself, Button charmed the pants off the team and played the political game, which would have given him a boost.

Most people realised Hamilton is a faster driver than Button, however is he a more complete driver? So far so good this season, but he needs to keep his head right and develop his maturity more.

On the "having the same car"issue, to the public McLaren always advertise equal equipment, however I lost count of how many times DC used to moan that the McLaren was designed with Mika's driving style in mind. So I'm not sure which design philosophy McLaren have gone with this time around.

[racechick]

I understand jenson had quite a lot of input into the car this year. But I dont think he gets on so well without the blown diffuser which stabalises the back.And im sure the problems got worse since the new nose was fitted.

[Hammer278]

I understand jenson had quite a lot of input into the car this year. But I dont think he gets on so well without the blown diffuser which stabalises the back.And im sure the problems got worse since the new nose was fitted.

The irony being Lewis who wanted to test it personally, and Button saying it wasn't necessary for the race drivers to be there.

[bud]

His problems are tyre related, finding a setup that works them. It's nothing to do with new developments.

[deMuRe]

His problems are tyre related, finding a setup that works them. It's nothing to do with new developments.

I wonder if Button applies himself enough. The one image that sticks into my mind is Button crashing his boat into Flavio's at Monaco and Flavio having a moan that Jenson should focus less on being a playboy and more on the tasks at hand.

Sure this was one isolated incident but I never read about how Button is burning the candle at both ends with the testing teams trying to improve the car, like it's been reported on some of the more dedicated drivers in the pitlane.

[bud]

Pirelli have been cited as the main reason for the topsy-turvy campaign with Minardi saying that one only has to look at McLaren's Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button to see how much of an influence the Italian tyre manufacturer has had this season.

"This Championship is deeply conditioned by tyres, and only the driver who has the best understanding of them will succeed," Minardi told crash.net.

"We have (had) the seventh different winner inside seven different grands prix and running races is getting more and more difficult, (but) what catches our eyes are the big differences inside the same team.

"Let's take Hamilton and Button as an example. The difference between them is huge. We almost cannot explain it. There is something unusual, so it's getting more and more difficult to judge.

"There could be either technical problems or mental ones. As the Championship goes by, the differences between the performances of two drivers belonging to the same team are getting bigger and bigger.

"Hamilton's weekend was super. McLaren has improved set-up and tyres, which didn't bear weather changes. Surely Jenson is not having a good period.

"From a technical point of view, in the last three grands prix, soft tyres have been used. On the contrary, he made a good race using hard tyres, which usually are the hardest to reach a right temperature."

What Minardi thinks

[racechick]

His problems are tyre related, finding a setup that works them. It's nothing to do with new developments.

I must admit it sounds to me like tyres, which is strange since he's been lauded
as the tyre expert.
I posted this link on the previous page but if you didnt see it its well worth a read. It gives all sorts of suggestions s to why Button is currently experiecing difficulties. Its a good read.
http://www1.skysports.com/formula-1/new ... me-undone-

[jayjay]

Ill be very surprised if Button is not back on his game at the next outing.
Im not saying he will be winning all the grand prix from here on in but he will be picking up good points for the constructors.
We can speculate forever about what has caused his poor run of form but the truth is he is better than his recent performances suggest and a team like Mclaren will get the best out of him.

[MACH141]

I believe that the team will help Jenson to solve his problem with the car and we shall see another Jenson for the next few races

[CookinFlat6]

I wonder though if the team have the resources to develop two separate car philosophies, obviously Button needs a car that is completely different from the one that propelled his teammate to the top of the table

Do McLaren push the car away from Lewis and towards a perfectly balanced and harmonised Buttonmobile? Do they try and develop both cars seperately?

Do they concenrate on Lewis and see button suffer even more?

Did they screw up by elevating Button to an equal number one in the team knowing his narrow operating window and his aversion to the characteristics drivers like Lewis thrive on
Should they let lewis go at the end of the season and then concentrate on button as the number 1?

Questions questions, Whitmarsh says Valencia is where Button comes back, Button said Canada was where he'd come back. Button needs to win and Lewis, Seb, rosberg, Alonso, Grosjean all have to dnf for Jenson to be back in the hunt. Even then he would have to start qualifying top 2 and scoring more points than those 5 to progress.

Interesting times ahead, lets settle back and enjoy the spectacle

[deMuRe]

I wonder though if the team have the resources to develop two separate car philosophies, obviously Button needs a car that is completely different from the one that propelled his teammate to the top of the table

Do McLaren push the car away from Lewis and towards a perfectly balanced and harmonised Buttonmobile? Do they try and develop both cars seperately?

Do they concenrate on Lewis and see button suffer even more?

Did they screw up by elevating Button to an equal number one in the team knowing his narrow operating window and his aversion to the characteristics drivers like Lewis thrive on
Should they let lewis go at the end of the season and then concentrate on button as the number 1?

Questions questions, Whitmarsh says Valencia is where Button comes back, Button said Canada was where he'd come back. Button needs to win and Lewis, Seb, rosberg, Alonso, Grosjean all have to dnf for Jenson to be back in the hunt. Even then he would have to start qualifying top 2 and scoring more points than those 5 to progress.

Interesting times ahead, lets settle back and enjoy the spectacle

If I were a team owner I would be putting my eggs in the Lewis basket. Button has shown a real strength of character at times, he's formidable in changing weather conditions and when the car is right, he's at the sharp end of the grid. But he just can't drive around problems like Lewis can and when the team is having an off day or they can't find that sweet spot in car setup, you need a driver that can push on even when the car isn't perfect.

[Hammer278]

....Plus Lewis in his relatively short career has some good experience with very very close Championships and everyone tips this WDC to be one of the closest fought ever....while Button doesn't after driving in F1 all his life.

[myownalias]

The simple solution would be to ditch the stupid centralised garage philosophy and have two distinct sides of the garage, then no eggs need to be places in any basket, both drivers have equal opportunities within the team, the centralised philosophy can never work unless there is distinct #1 and #2 drivers, which McLaren deny is the case!

[Hammer278]

The simple solution would be to ditch the stupid centralised garage philosophy and have two distinct sides of the garage, then no eggs need to be places in any basket, both drivers have equal opportunities within the team, the centralised philosophy can never work unless there is distinct #1 and #2 drivers, which McLaren deny is the case!

Agree 100%. Especially since their driving styles are so obviously different, the centralized concept gives McLaren a lot more to lose for both drivers than to gain.

[myownalias]

The simple solution would be to ditch the stupid centralised garage philosophy and have two distinct sides of the garage, then no eggs need to be places in any basket, both drivers have equal opportunities within the team, the centralised philosophy can never work unless there is distinct #1 and #2 drivers, which McLaren deny is the case!

Agree 100%. Especially since their driving styles are so obviously different, the centralized concept gives McLaren a lot more to lose for both drivers than to gain.

Well, there's a turn up for the history books, we finally agree on something, today is going to be a good day!