Embarrassment for Hamilton? The Reborn Button...

[LionKing]

What points did they have at the time of Massa'a accident?

Massa was only in 9 races for his 22 points. At that stage Heiki got 5 points, Kimi had 9 points, Lewis had 10 points.

In those 9 races, Massa finished ahead of his team mate 5 times out of 4.

If those words seem familiar, they were copied from first page of the fanboy ying yang thread. Yes, this sort of conversation was considered off topic for a technical forum .

How is that even possible? That's an improper fraction if ever I saw one!

Looking at a half season is a little misleading, if that were the case Button would have famously been the driver champion in 2006 by virtue of outscoring Alonso and Schumacher in the second half of the season.

Button did not outscore Alonso nor Schumacher in the second half of 2006. Just the last six races I think...

[megz]

Last third, it seems that, I too have difficulty with fractions

[Pierce89]

We might get to a conclusion in a few years as to who was at fault if Raikkonen is still Ferrari's last World Champion..............

I'm not so sure that's entirely fair. To say that Jean Todt is Ferrari's last Championship-winning team principal is, I think, more representative of reality.

(Does that make any sense?)

Fernando Alonso is the only driver in F1 for whom I would have dumped Kimi Raikkonen, so I completely understand why the team made that move. However, if cost wasn't a factor, and if it was at all reasonable to assume that Alonso could coexist with a driver who's just as quick - admittedly, both are big ifs - Felipe Massa is the driver Ferrari should have dropped. It pains me somewhat to say that, because I like him so much as a person, but facts are facts, and racing is racing.

In terms of sheer driving ability, I think Raikkonen is as good as any driver who's ever turned a wheel in F1, and I think he still has plenty left in the tank. If the E20 is competitive at all, he will turn a lot of heads this year.

Grosjean has no idea what he's in for.

EDIT: Well, I guess that's not true. He got spanked in 2009, so he actually has a very good idea of what's likely in store.

Yeah the Kimster's great. I agree, although Kimi also got spanked for half of 09(and all of 08). But, I have been watching Grosjean for a few years, and literally the 09 Renault is the only car he didn't win in. He made a couple GT appearances and won races for a team that never won again. He made some appearances in AutoGP and killed everyone. When the Dam's GP2 team couldn't get it right in '10, He straightened them out over a weekend.

I just think Grosjean has the potential to be a special talent. He's got some game, no doubt.

Yeah I'm quoting myself. I think Grosjean has the POTENTIAL too beat Kimi over a season. Rabid Kimi fans notice the word potential.

Edit: I would be eternally grateful if a mod could slide this over to the correct thread

[bhall]

I knew that one was coming.

[Powershift]

Honestly anyone who thinks Button is anywhere close to as good a driver as Hamilton in any conditions must have been hit in the head harder than Massa.

Wet or Dry, Michelins or Pirellis, passing or defending, Hamilton is far superior

[SpliT]

Today it was only 0.152 between them.

[Powershift]

Today it was only 0.152 between them.

With Button pushing his hardest and Hamilton pitting from his last run to save tires. Hamilton may have even set the pole lap on used tires from Q2

[banibhusan]

According to star sports commentators, he was on a fresh set of softs for his first run in Q3. Can anyone else confirm that please?

[Websta]

Honestly anyone who thinks Button is anywhere close to as good a driver as Hamilton in any conditions must have been hit in the head harder than Massa.

Wet or Dry, Michelins or Pirellis, passing or defending, Hamilton is far superior

So superior that Button managed to beat him pretty comprehensively last year. Not what I would call "far" superior at all. But of course, Button is "no where close to as good as Hamilton" is he?

[avatar]

Today it was only 0.152 between them.

With Button pushing his hardest and Hamilton pitting from his last run to save tires. Hamilton may have even set the pole lap on used tires from Q2

I honestly can't see him electing to start a race on tyres that have been through 2 rounds of qually unless they were short a set of options( e.g. by running a set in q1?). That would be throwing away a few laps of the 1st stint wouldn't it?

[ringo]

Today it was only 0.152 between them.

From what i remember it was 8 tenths in equal circumstances!
Everyone was making progress in the last run. Lewis would have probably put another 3 tenths in it if he wanted to, but gotta save the tyres.

This illusion that they are close is quite entertaining. Clearly there is no embarrassment. Lewis biggest enemy is himself and Alonso in an equal car. Alonso sees it the same way as well.

[avatar]

Today it was only 0.152 between them.

From what i remember it was 8 tenths in equal circumstances!
Everyone was making progress in the last run. Lewis would have probably put another 3 tenths in it if he wanted to, but gotta save the tyres.

This illusion that they are close is quite entertaining. Clearly there is no embarrassment. Lewis biggest enemy is himself and Alonso in an equal car. Alonso sees it the same way as well.

I think you're right, there was more time on the table - Button was 3 tenths up in sector 1, then lost them in sector 2.

Possible that's down to setup, or JB pushed the tyres too hard, but my guess is Hamilton had it covered and could have picked up time if it was available .

I have been impressed with Button at McLaren, and I guess Hamilton's head was part of the equation.....
... Raw speed I still think Hamilton has it. Remembering how Jenson was thought of as a top qualifier at BAR it's notable he's not shown that yet at McLaren.
..on application and strategy, it seems Button is ahead - it's what makes the pairing so interesting.

Racing's not just about speed and car control, or even head to heads on track, the driver's head is almost like a reliability marker. One driver's fast, makes the most of the car and arguably better in head to heads , the other makes the most of situations across a whole race distance and is generally more consistent.

[Nando]

Today it was only 0.152 between them.

With Button pushing his hardest and Hamilton pitting from his last run to save tires. Hamilton may have even set the pole lap on used tires from Q2

When did he bail out of the lap?

Camera switched as he was a few meters from going in the pits so either he was on it the whole lap or realized very early that he had it in the bag.

[PlatinumZealot]

Outbraked him self at turn one. Tried to brake 10m earlier and it didn't work.

[raymondu999]

Tried to brake 10m later you mean