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[andrew]

When Buttons been in the pack and made a big come back such as Spa he has been on different tyres to the cars around him. Such as him being on the options in the last stint compared to the cars he was chasing down. Lewis' problems in Japan were he was on the same tyre strategy as the cars around him but because he pitted earlier he was always 2 laps behind them.

OK in Japan he was out of sync' but there have been other races where he's suffered and Button hasn't. So who is making the tyre calls? The driver or the pit wall? Seems to me that it should be the driver as they know how the car's feeling and where they are loosing out. Whitmarsh has mentioned Button making good tyre calls in the past but he's never mentioned Hamilton making any tyre call that I can remember. Seems a bit strange if one driver is being given the fereedom to make their tyre calls but the other (possibly) isn't. But I think that if Hamilton want to beat Button he'll have to start managing his tyres better as well as improving his qualifying performance. Both are fast drivers (it pains me to say that) but one of them is being left standing pretty much.

[racechick]

He's outqualified Button most races. (The last two races he didnt get a final Q3 run). So I really can't understand your comments at all.
And to your previous comment; as a Hamilton fan, no I am not getting fed up with him, just at the nonsense and crap spoken about him.

[andrew]

He's outqualified Button most races. (The last two races he didnt get a final Q3 run). So I really can't understand your comments at all.
And to your previous comment; as a Hamilton fan, no I am not getting fed up with him, just at the nonsense and crap spoken about him.

What I'm trying to understand is how 2 decent drivers are so far apart come the race. The McLaren is now one of the best cars with the most evenly matched drivers on the grid so both drivers should be hounding Vettel but it is only Button that is doing that. Button has had some poor qualifying sessions and has started well down the grid but has managed to salvage some good results through preserving his tyres. Just seems strange that one driver is getting a lot more out of the car than the other when they are pretty evenly matched. Unless your theory of Whitmarsh favouring Button is true.....

I didn't say you were getting fed up with him, just getting fed up with the end result of each race. I was meaning that it's not much fun when your driver is not producing the results you want them to or is regularly getting tangled with the same driver.

[racechick]

Im fed up with the results yes, and Im fed up at the way lewis gets singled out and put under a microscope for every little thing. I know he's a huge talent but thats no reason to treat him any differently to any other driver on the grid. Massa getting in his way doesnt bother me-why dont we all start asking why Massa crashes with Lewis? Its racing. At the start of the season the Mclaren wasnt fast enough and there were the inconsistant penalties getting dished out. There have been mistakes and cockups, and the last two races he hasnt had a final q3 run. So I can quite see why his results arent as good as they should be. Do I like that? No of course I dont.

[bud]

Well he would have been hounding Vettel if he didn't get a puncture. Just throwing that out there

[andrew]

Fair enough, so Q3 shenanigans aside, do you think that Hamiltons head has just gone down after a crappy season and if anything he's maybe trying too hard and over-driving the car?

We used to see the same with Hakkinen when he was having a poor race he'd just seem to receed into his shell and trundle round the track until the finish. But on his day he was blisteringly fast.

Well he would have been hounding Vettel if he didn't get a puncture. Just throwing that out there

Possibly, but he should have been hounding Vettel in quite a few races. Spa being the prime example where Hamilton was the only driver who could really keep up. I'm still surprised that it's Button that is the leading McLaren.

[racechick]

Kobicrashed with him at Spa and it broke his car. How can he hound Vettel with a broken car?

Yes I do think his head's gone down. And i think all sorts of things have contributed to that.

As Ive said before, it wouldnt suprise me if he made some major decisons about his career over the coming months.

[andrew]

Kobicrashed with him at Spa and it broke his car. How can he hound Vettel with a broken car?

Obviously he couldn't after his crash but before that he was the only threat to Vettel.

Yes I do think his head's gone down. And i think all sorts of things have contributed to that.

Button having more points after years of being the top dog at McLaren is bound to be part of it. They say your team mate is your biggest opponent and no one wants to be beaten by their team mate.

As Ive said before, it wouldnt suprise me if he made some major decisons about his career over the coming months.

Nah, I can see him being committed to McLaren for a good few years. Like Vettel with Red Bull he'd be stupid to leave a team that are in contention for the championship most years. Besides where would he go? Ferrari and Red Bull are full. Merc and Renault are uncertain for the long term unless they start winning.

[racechick]

I dont think its Button scoring so well. lewis knows how good he is. Its more than that.
Being the only threat to Vettel at Spa shows he has the pace, so again Im not sure what you're saying here..
I think if things stay the same the chance of him staying at McLaren is 50/50

[andrew]

As you say, Spa showed he still has the pace but since then things haven't been going too well. Seems like he needs a confidence boost of some sort, perhaps his old man should become his manager again. He seems to have his head screwed on right.

As for leaving McLaren, where would he go? Red Bull will have someone in mind for after Webber (either Ricciardo or one of the current Torro Rosso drivers), Ferrari have Alonso until the end of time and are looking at Rosberg for 2013, Renault are questionable about their long term commitment to F1 as are Merc. I think the smart thing to do would be to wipe the slate clean and make a new start in 2012 and see how that goes before making any rash decisions. For all we know it could be Button that has a poor season next year or Red Bull produce a total pup of a car.

[myownalias]

Everybody knows how good a driver Lewis Hamilton can be when his head is in the right place, but clearly this season his head has not been 100% at the races. I believe that Martin Brundle is right, his management company is failing him massively, he seemed to be better last season without management, it really baffled me when I read he signed with XIX management!

However I don't believe that Lewis is better than Jenson, or vice-versa, two very different drivers, the out and out racer vs the thinking driver, in it for the long haul! I simply think that Jenson has asserted himself more this season, last season it was expected for Lewis to come out on top as it was Jenson's first season at McLaren while Lewis was in his fourth season at McLaren!

I get very p*ssed off when I hear from many LH fans that Lewis will blow Jenson away, which he has never happened, even last year, Jenson more than held his own, two wins apiece, admittedly Jenson did have some shocking races last season but finished just 26 points from Lewis by the end of the season. Now the shoe is on the other foot, those same LH fans are claiming that he is being screwed by McLaren... Lewis has made mistakes that have cost him, the team can't be blamed for him driving into people, yes, the team has made some bad strategic calls in qualifying but Jenson also has had some team errors that cost him as well! The simple fact is that Jenson is driving better this season, that is all!

[killem2]

Yeah, I love hearing LH fan bois tout that mclaren is out to get LH. Yeah that makes perfect sense, lets pay him top dollar and then ruin his chances of doing anything with the money we freely gave him! MUAHAHAHAHHA

*Queue Whitmarsh jumping off a diving board, dressed as scrooge mcduck, into a vat of gold coins."

[racechick]

I think Mercedes is most likely.Or even another series.
Ive never said Lewis would blow Jenson away, just that he's faster. I dont think Jenson performing better this season is the whole story. And yers he would have been much better staying woth his father- but then that was just another thing his bashers had a go at.
I dont think its negotiative management Lewis needs(which presumably Fuller can provide). Its closer more personal management which his father provided and his team are not

[myownalias]

I didn't name any names, for the record; for the most part you have been fairly objective RC; but there have been some on here (of which many have departed this forum) and some I knew in person and some from my Twitter feed that couldn't form a coherent objective opinion if they were hit around the head with it! My point is; Lewis is not infallible; he is human like the rest of us; I think a mentality reset will solve his issue, getting a better dedicated sports manager would benefit him more I believe. I would love to see both JB and LH on top of their game battling it out!

[darwin dali]

I didn't name any names, for the record; for the most part you have been fairly objective RC; but there have been some on here (of which many have departed this forum) and some I knew in person and some from my Twitter feed that couldn't form a coherent objective opinion if they were hit around the head with it! My point is; Lewis is not infallible; he is human like the rest of us; I think a mentality reset will solve his issue, getting a better dedicated sports manager would benefit him more I believe. I would love to see both JB and LH on top of their game battling it out!

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