FORUMula1.com - F1 Forum

[Bear]

Hello all, I'm mainly following Jenson this season. I'll get this out of the way for the Jenson haters and Lewis lovers, I know Lewis is faster and better etc etc. But for example I don't follow Nottingham Forest because they are better... but because I like them and want them to win instead of following Chelsea/United.

It just seems to me Jenson is getting screwed (or screwing himself maybe?) in alot races this season.

Monte Carlo: Arguably screwed out of a win just out of red flag incident.
Silverstone: Pit Mechanics didn't put a tyre on.
German GP: Car failed whilst he was going through the field.

Whereas he has shown competancy and done good moves in China and Spain.

So is it all Jensons fault he is doing badly at the moment? One moment he seems to be in contention, the next he is second(s) down on his teammate.
Before people say bad luck when he was so 'lucky' in Canada, he made 27 passes to get to where he was.

I'll give him one thing though, he does seem to have webber syndrome with starts.

So what do you think? bad driver or bad luck.

[What's Burning?]

That's a leading question. I personally don't think he's a bad driver. He's got a WDC and those are earned. He's not in the same league as Hamilton but he doesn't have to be and I think the reason he's at McLaren is because he's a different driver than Hamilton so and they're able to hedge their bests.

So not a bad driver, and he's skilled perhaps even the best at what *he* does. IMO there's no such thing as luck, just events that happen, so go in your favor others go against they tend to even out in the end. you may be able to capitalize on events or have a hand in forcing some events one way or another but it's not luck.

[F1er]

Ron is taking parts off Jenson's car to punish him for crashing Lewis!

[acosmichippo]

neither.

[youtube]aPVLyB0Yc6I[/youtube]

[oaba09]

He has a WDC....He's not in the same level as hamilton and alonso but he is a good driver...

[Timekeeper]

Jenson has copped a bit of stick as of late. He's a great driver, if a little quiet at times. He has made several charges through the field when needed - Canada is a case in point. Anyone doubting his ability needs to watch that race again. That was one of the drives of the season. He also had a brilliant race at Monaco. He doesn't have the same commitment or drive as Hamilton, but he's still a quality driver. He's gone through a bit of a bad patch - particulary at Silverstone and Germany, but he'll turn it on again soon.

[myownalias]

As a self confessed Jenson Button fan I would say he has been unlucky in the last two races; one team failure and one car failure. But that said he hasn't been upto the speed of his team mate in the same car; Jenson tends to struggle in a car that isn't perfectly balanced to his liking; but when he does get a balances car, he's one of the best out there, maybe better than Lewis and Fernando but sadly he is unlikely to beat those two drivers in this season's McLaren as both Alonso and Hamilton have the added ability to drag an under-performing car up by it's shoestrings.

On his day Jenson can be the class of the field like in Canada and other days he can struggle to break the top six in a car that is capable of winning as seen today before retiring!

[bigpat]

I don't believe that Jenson is anything less than a very talented driver. From what I hear, he has a very canny racing brain, even though he is not exactly an Einstein outside of cars. That's fine, he's paid to drive.....

As for bad luck, it happens to everyone, it's just more noticeable when it's your driver that cops it.

I think that Jenson is not as aggressive a driver as say Lewis, Vettel, or Alonso (or Kobayashi for that matter).

It may be a function of his driving style, smooth and measured, rarely making it look ragged. I think that his style, and his car setup, favouring neutral to slight understeer, MAY make it harder to arrive at a setting where he can drive the car freely. Its known that if oversteer, or twitchiness on corner entry exists, that Jenson simply isn't interested in driving it.

Look at footage of the 2009 Brawn. The car turned in and just sat there, never once requiring any opposite lock correction. Most other drivers had to takes 2 bites at turning it in, and fighting for traction on exit. The philosophy of the car suited his style perfectly. I think that trait is still fundamentally in the 2010 & 2011 Mercs as well. Hence why I think Schuey is struggling.

Guys like Lewis and Alonso, Schuey, and a maybe somewhat less, Vettel are different. These guys favour an aggressive or more manipulative car, with slightly less stability on entry or mid corner, thus being able to cope with a less than optimum car, in terms of balance, and still punch out the laptimes.

Of course if the car is just not there, this setup doesn't work either. On board with Schuey shows that the Merc just can't deal with what he wants from it...

[bud]

well to bring it up after two DNF's you must look at the DNF's.
Pit stop error which was the wheel mans fault = Bad luck
Hydraulic fault = Bad luck

Only thing is his gap to Lewis in Q might be a bit of a worry but sometimes some tracks and setups suit others more.

[Hammer278]

Past 2 races have obviously been lousy luck. He's not a bad driver at all, but no star either.

[EagleF1-27]

Jenson tends to struggle in a car that isn't perfectly balanced to his liking; but when he does get a balances car, he's one of the best out there, maybe better than Lewis and Fernando but sadly he is unlikely to beat those two drivers in this season's McLaren as both Alonso and Hamilton have the added ability to drag an under-performing car up by it's shoestrings.

On his day Jenson can be the class of the field like in Canada and other days he can struggle to break the top six in a car that is capable of winning as seen today before retiring!

To be considered one of the greatest drivers you have to be capable of driving good races, maybe even winning them, in a car that isnt suited to you or not setup well. Someone like Jim Clark could take any car, no matter how it was set up, and make it go quick. That is why Button isnt considered in those terms, he isnt really capable of pushing the car beyond its limits. And if he cant get the setup right he tends to get lost. Even in his championship winning year he occasionally had to borrow Barrichello's setups!
He was good in Canada, but the McLaren may well have been on a wet weather setup, and had Lewis still been in the race he would probably have finished second in a McLaren 1-2.

[f1ea]

He's not bad.

He's had 2 races with bad luck. He's had some really good races and some poor races... who hasn't?

Even in poor races he hardly makes mistakes, more like he struggles for pace. But sometines he looks off the pace, and still somehow manages to reach some good postitions.

Ain't no BAD drivers on the F1 grid...

[What's Burning?]

Ain't no BAD drivers on the F1 grid...

So we're just supposed to ignore Luca BADoer?

[killem2]

Bad Driver? Really would anyone actually believe that?

He's a top driver, this nonsense that alonzo, hamiliton, and rosberg people seem to keep bringing up as the only top tier drivers is utter crap. Button is a great driver, I don't know how many races he has to destroy people in to get that. He is great at navigated traffic, that is a great talent.

Great guy, great talent, great everything. Top notch driver there.

[Bear]

In my original post, I meant 'bad driver' in relation to the other drivers on the grid. Of course all the drivers on the grid are lightyears ahead of your average road driver in skill. But there are comparisons to each other.

I myself think that Jenson has just as much talent, or maybe slightly less, than Vettel. Does very well in a good car. But he doesn't seem to outdrive the car like Alonso and Hamilton can.

Just wanted to know everyones real opinion, as people love to slate him and think Hamilton is the new Senna (which he isn't) in alot of the posts on the forum.

In terms of talents compared to the rest of the field, eg. if everyone was in the same car with their ideal setup, where would he fit in?