So... the question everyone is thinking...

[axle]

I believe the McLaren chassis/setup makes for a tendancy to lift the unloaded front tyre thus causing it to smoke quite often...

So I'd say it's a mixture of Lewis and the car.

[ISLAMATRON]

The McLaren(or Lewis) like the car sprung pretty hard, we've seen both their drivers 3 wheeling it around corners several times over the last couple years. This tends to lead to locking the inside unloaded tire... really not that big a deal.

The better the car the closer Button will be to Hamilton, if the car is a dog Button will be no where while Lou finds a way to move forward. Button seems easily demoralised and discouraged by anything other than a perfect car. On top of that Button could not pass a light pole if his life depended on it.

[rjsa]

This looks like the "Kimi will trash Massa" thing from the early Ferrari days. There isn't a single option placing Button ahead.

Los of fun to come...

[Rob W]

I wouldn't go as far as kilcoo316 and say compared to Hamilton Button is s*** but I haven't seen see any evidence that Button is the driver Hamilton is when they're both performing well. Button and his team-mate were both flattered by a seriously quick car for a lot of 2009. In my mind Button's best achievement was being consistent and not over-driving the thing.

As I said in the silly season thread, given the choice for a five-year signing at the same price I doubt many teams would chose Button over Hamilton, especially Alonso, or Raikonnen. Guys who've all shown supreme pace or attitude to win in under-performing cars. With Button at Honda it often felt like he couldn't even be bothered.

[axle]

I wouldn't go as far as kilcoo316 and say compared to Hamilton Button is s*** but I haven't seen see any evidence that Button is the driver Hamilton is when they're both performing well.

Surely this is part of Button's motivation - how better to silence your critics when you've achieved your other goals. He has beaten (when motivated) his other team-mates, so why not try and take on the "best". If he matches/beats him he elevates his status...if he can't he can play out his 3 years feeling happy that he's there for the off days etc etc...

[ringo]

Somebody put a Button option please, just for the sake of it. who knows what the future holds?
ISLAM when you say he can't pass a light pole, what do you mean, didn't he pass kubica this year? . I think he passes pretty ok.
Good enough to make the time to come out ahead in the pitstops at least.

Button is not in my top 5, but i am not taking my eye off him. He is a very cheeky and slight driver.

About the braking, the inside wheel offloads in a turn and weight shifts to the outside. It so happens Hamilton's late braking has him braking while deep in the turn so by then the car's weight has been shifted to it's maximum in roll and pitch. I don't know if most drivers rather brake in a straight line then turn earlier. But smoke is a sign the inside tyre is slightly above its max grip level, thus indicating the outside wheel's grip is being maximized.
If the inside is not smoking in a turn, as with most drivers, this means the outside wheel grip is not being maximized since it has a higher grip capacity than the inside being that more weight is over it.

[ringo]

I wouldn't go as far as kilcoo316 and say compared to Hamilton Button is s*** but I haven't seen see any evidence that Button is the driver Hamilton is when they're both performing well.

Surely this is part of Button's motivation - how better to silence your critics when you've achieved your other goals. He has beaten (when motivated) his other team-mates, so why not try and take on the "best". If he matches/beats him he elevates his status...if he can't he can play out his 3 years feeling happy that he's there for the off days etc etc...

We have a similar situation in Jamaica with the runners Usain Bolt and Asafa Powell. The country is split over the 2 of them, even though Powell plans to do what Button is doing. Silently do his work then come out triumphant and elevate his status.
They are still good friends, but you can sense the tension when they appear together in competition. Powell wants back the #1 status.

[Rob W]

...haven't seen see any evidence that Button is the driver Hamilton is....

Surely this is part of Button's motivation - how better to silence your critics when you've achieved your other goals. He has beaten (when motivated) his other team-mates, so why not try and take on the "best"...

I agree. Ballsy move though. Alonso went to McLaren and couldn't outshine Hamilton and he's a far better all-round driver than Button by my reckoning.

[deus1066]

I originally voted that Hamilton would score 25% more points, but the more I think about it, the more I think it could still be quite close. Button's ability to look after tyres, consistency and lack of over-driving leading to mistakes might help a lot next season against Hamilton.

Still, I think Hamilton has matured a lot over the last season and would expect him to beat Button reasonably comfortably.

[ringo]

since RobW mentioned Alonso i am rethinking the outcome. Alonso kinds of add some perspective here with Button vs LH. And unequal treatment or machinery was not an issue in 2007, Alonso is also as good as any team mate is going to get.
Who is better Button or Alonso?

[PlatinumZealot]

I think Hamilton is unbeatable but at the same time Button is not to be underestimated. Button really surprised me this year so I voted for Hamilton to have only 25% more points at the end of the season if the car is good (100 to 125) lol. As said before any good driver like Button will garner a horde of points in a good car.

If the MP4-25 is good enough to qualify on pole with heavier fuel loads then Hamilton will have the advantage of running lighter than Button since he can heat up the tyres more. But Wait! hold that thought! Suppose there is some type of "weight threshold" for activating the tyres. If Button Is already over this guessed weight threshold (and I think he will be) than it would go to his advantage! On the other hand, Hamilton has proved to be a very quick learner; He adapted to driving with faulty brakes in Abu Dahbi, he qickly reacted to the loss of KERS in Japan and most impressively he reactivated a dead KERS wich required a tedious series of button presses while in Singapore. So if the case comes up Hamilton should be good enough to conserve his tyres without loosing too much time.

[mortigitempo]

If the MP4-25 is good enough to qualify on pole with heavier fuel loads then Hamilton will have the advantage of running lighter than Button since he can heat up the tyres more.

No refuelling next year, so what you take to the grid needs to get you to the end of the race. It's conjectured that Button's smooth style may be more fuel efficient - but who knows...

For me, Hamilton to be often faster than Jenson, but a few stellar performances and general consistency will keep him in touch. I think it's more likely to be close if the Mclaren's aren't necessarily the fastest cars at every race.

[Professor]

The drivers will qualify on fumes in 2010. They will then race about 160kgs heavier. The car that is fastest on low fuel may not be fastest on heavy fuel. If an agressive driver trashes his tires and requires 3 stops for rubber, and a smooth driver conserves his tires and makes only 2 stops, maybe the smooth guy has an advantage.

Pit stops will be about the same total in/out time. The savings will be about three seconds due to tires only, but the serious time lost is in/out lap time due to speed limits. A 20 sec pit stop loss in 2009 will now be 17 seconds.

Perhaps a guy who conserves his tires will gain track position based on tire strategy. And, perhaps a driver who is easy on fuel load starts with a lighter car?

Will the fastest car in quali on fumes be the fastest car with an increased weight of 23% on lap one.

I do not know, we will see.

Advantage Button?

[ringo]

Not necessarily, Button is also sensitive to his car. The tires are degrading constantly. Lets say Button's point of discomfort and loss of confidence occurs when the tires are at 50% of there usefulness. Then on the other hand Hamilton feels he can rock the Mp4 at full tilt up to 90% of the tyres usefulness. This is a skill that he seems to possess, he is very indifferent to the ills of the car. He knows the tyres are going or the brakes are shot, or the KERS is not working, but the man still pushes. Alonso knows this first hand.

So where button may take 2 more laps to reach 95% of the tyres usefullness and can pit a little later; which i don't fully believe as yet. He will be losing time to Hamilton while he loses laptime worrying about understeer and grip when the tires pass that 50% mark.
Hamilton could easily be clocking it all the way up to that point where the tyres start flaking off and the car has to pit. In fact this is what he has been doing in the past.
I still don't believe his tyre management is poor. tyre management and performance is relative to lap time performance. If a driver is driving, with wires stick out the tyres and nailing laps within 1% of pb, Tyre life is not an issue.
Tyres are disposable, they can cry all they want, as long as they deliver the times and meet the pit stop check point.

And about the qualifying on light weight, they both have the same car here. If it behaves differently when heavy It's the guy who can cope with adversity who has the edge. The 2 drivers will have the same thing to deal with.
Remember button out braking himself and being passed by Kobayashi when his car had some fuel put in?
Loss of composure there.
with an engine revving at 18000rpm most of the time, i just can't see Button eeking out more 5km laps because of driving style. The fuel consumption on these cars is so ridiculous, a little TLC won't save considerable fuel, this would have been noticeable in 2009. Maybe he can get a front straight more out of the fuel load.
The other factor is the guy who qualifies better. He will have less traffic to deal with so he can save fuel and not have to follow another car and mess his tyres up.

[ISLAMATRON]

Button will make mistakes trying to keep up with Hamilton's raw speed, Button has never had a teammate that will push him as hard as LH will. It will push Button to do things that are out of his character... we saw it with Prost/Senna & with Alonso/Hamilton.