Lewis Hamilton will crush Jenson Button like a Bug

Button will have #1 on his car but he will be the #2 driver!

Kov will suddenly look much better in hindsight.

Ham veto Kimi?? Due to Chicken??

Its happened so many times before, why stop now?

I definitely think Jenson will fare better than Heikki.

But a couple things to remember:

- Lewis will have been with Mclaren for 3 years. Thats an advantage in terms of relations with race engineers, etc.
- Lewis will have favoritism as well. Rightfully so, since Jenson is new to the team, but he will definitely be given best opportunities.

And even after that, I think Jenson will be closer to Lewis than Heikki was capable of. He might even be capable of matching/beating him on his day. I rate Lewis high, but I dont rate him Schumacher high, ya know? He's not invincible.

Whatever you're smoking, or drinking, I want some!

on his days, Rubens could beat Schumacher too, no one is absolutely invincible.

Mmm, how was Michael doing when he was 24?

I expect Button will actually be (relatively) slower than Heikki in qualy, but he seems a lot luckier in races. Still, I'd say 10-30 points down on Lewis by the end of the season...

This is the first time two world champions have been driving for the same team since Senna and Prost in 1989. If they produce a top car, the exposure that McLaren will get in the UK in particular is going to be out of this world.

Hamilton is the fastest driver since Senna. I would guess Button will get the edge over Hamilton around 20 percent of the time in qualifying and a bit more in race trim. No current driver could match Hamilton in the same car over a season, but Button is smart and a fine racer too. If anybody can push Hamilton I would say its Button.

Simpleton.

@OP, now that Jenson is confirmed, can you please add a poll to this thread? so that we can have a vote don't really want to start a new thread just for the poll.

Do you really want a poll? I was thinking of more discussion above just saying one will beat the other... However, I might oblige if I knew how to. Can a poll be added retrospectively?

well all this bashfest isn't helping either, so i thought why not get the general conses.

I concur, on all points, including your last one...

My guess is:

- Hamilton qualifies before Button 3/4 of the races, but it will be very close, often adjacent grid positions.
- Button runs longer first stint all races, sometimes getting enough lead to beat Hamilton after first tyre changes, sometimes not.
- Procession racing means race finish order is almost always decided after first tyre changes (circa crashes and breakdowns).

Still, Button may get drawn into Hamiltons more aggressive style, and after his race at Interlagos I think he really may have it in him to match Hamilton, and if he can blend in extra aggression with still being smooth in the early stages, he might end up being overall more suited to next years type of races.

Its going to be one of the most fascinating aspects of 2010!

already writing your excuses i see
try not to ignore the facts that you clearly are trying to ignore like
Jenson 10 years in F1 1 win before this year.
it is silly trying to show a racist how blinkerd they are
but then as a liar too about your past too could we ever expect anything better from you

Of course the downside to Button joining Hamilton at McLaren is the bashfest it attracts.

My own opinion for next year... Hamilton will consistently shade Button in qualifying. Button's quick but not quick enough over a single lap, in the race though I don't think there'll be that much between them as his race pace has always been good.

[edit] Forgot to add, I believe McLaren to be one of the fairest teams on the grid in terms of driver equality. If Button loses to Hamilton by the end of the year then he won't have been fast enough. [/edit]

we probably wont see leapfrogging by running longer anymore, the guy who pits first will have new tyres, which are faster....

Civil war in Briton

Definitely a possibility, but I'm not sure it will work out that way in practise. I think the late stop strategy will still be key, maybe even more than in 2009.

At some races there will be a possibility of 1 less stop, and a smoother driver will be more likely to manage that. That will give a big advantage when it happens - specifically if the smooth driver stops just after the one stoppers, and comes out high up and then just sits there while the cars in front take their second stops.

But assuming the same number of stops, the main thing is that the first to stop will often take a bigger hit because they will be more stuck behind slower traffic than before. Yes, they will have faster tyres, but they will rejoin behind cars with the same fuel and wrecked tyres. This year, when an early stopper rejoined after a stop, it was usually behind a light car with OK tyres, so while they lost time, it wasn't that bad. In 2010 they will rejoin behind a same weight car, with more wrecked tyres, so they will lose proportionally more time.

Will they have set pitstop times or will it be a case, your tyres are looking bad and you're losing time, come in for a change?

"Final point, it will be interesting to see the two Dads together, John Button and Anthony Hamilton. They have quite a bit of history and not all of it positive. That said they are both professional F1 Dads now and will no doubt put on a show. They have succeeded in the past; Lewis used engines tuned by John Button to win one of his karting championships."

http://www.jamesallenonf1.com/2009/11/butt...-beat-hamilton/

Didnt know their was any history. Anyone know what the non-positive aspect of their relationship was?

The Hamiltons were using Button kart engines, then Anthony switched to another supplier, and I gather didn't really explain why, according to Mark Hughes. Presumably because he didn't want to say they were better than John's.

It's funny how people think that Button will be closer to Lewis in races than in qualifying when Lewis himself is better at race pace than qualifying

The problem is not about Lewis vs Jenson.
Their fathers and girlfriends will get in the way too.

I think no thread among themselves will finish the year unlocked.

Lewis is kick Jenson's butt next year. IMO, this is a bad move by Button because he will not be able to keep up w/ Hamilton.

Well people think because lewis drives balls to the wall, he is super quick.
Jenson never seems on the edge, thus appears slow.
But for in my opinion, if the lewis fans think he will simply destroy jenson, they could be in for a very large dose of reality.

Quite. two different styles of driving. IMO both can learn something off each other, and they will... then they'll both be a force for Ferrari / Red Bull.

Mclaren will obviously favour Hamilton when required. If Hamilton gets a bad start and is stuck behind Button, they will pit him first for fresh tyres and give him a few laps to make the gap before they pit Button for example. I dont expect them to do the same if Button was behind Hamilton though. They are both back slapping each other at the moment, but once the season starts, you can forget all of that. The team favouring Hamilton wont matter anyway because Button is no match on any level.

Don't beleive that. The "backslapping" is exactly McLarens trump card. A team spirit will be enforced. Anyway 2 brit champs won't need to be told how to behave...

It was supposed to be their trump card in 2007 as well. Thats all very easy to say in the offseason but its very hard in the heat of battle. All the great rivalries started off with big smiles. Hamilton has proven time and time again that when he sees red he cant control himself so I wont be surprised if there is trouble next year. Of course it wont really be a war because Button will be out gunned.

Again I say. 2 brits. different scenario.

Say what you will, but at this point in time I can only admire Button.

Everything points to him having had the chance to stay in a proven environment he knows inside out, yet he choses to voluntarily go against the most hyped driver of recent years on that drivers acknowledged homeground, supposedly even for less money.

Either he enjoys pain in the Mosley sense or he simply has bigger balls than even Lewis, who already thinks his are monstrous...

With both being of the same nationality, the favouring won't work the same way it did before, that much is clear. The best thing for the team might actually be if Button is indeed outclassed regularily, as every man and his dog seem to expect. If, somehow, that isn't the case, things will get tasty...

You haven't got Saturdays Lottery numbers by any chance have you mate ?

I have to say, I liked the Autosport article on the top ten British driver pairings in Formula One. But you know they're rather thin on the ground when one of your top ten is two British drivers who paired together for one race and both retired on the second lap with engine failure. Normally, that would be considered one of the worst ten ...

certainly bigger balls than Kimi, looks like Hamilton's right after all.

but I don't know, Eddie Jordan said he had insider information, I don't think he made it up.

Well, I am not a Lewis fan, but I still think he's going to be a lot quicker than Jenson next year. I hope I'm wrong because it would be great to see 2 WDC drivers compete at McLaren, again. I don't think we've seen that since the Senna-Prost days.

Well, between Button, Brawn and Fry on one side, who all said essentially the same thing (that Button was welcome to stay and earn more money) and good old motormouth EJ on the other side... I definitely do think the latter made it up.

I think it's quite clear that Jenson will completely defeat Lewis in 2010. But the triathalon aside, Lewis should have the upper hand on track.

Fry sounds he's dodgin the questions when he's asked if Button was offered a long term future at Brawn. EJ is blabbermouth, Fry is a liar too.

One to stir it up:

In terms of opportunities where it was possible to become WDC Jenson has a 100% record where Lewis is currently at 50%

Lewis wouldn't even compete against Button in a triathlon after being challenged.

He claimed to be the fitter, so Button challenged him to a triathlon, where Lewis ummed and erred before saying OK. He then got his dad to say he wouldn't allow him.

Jenson has bigger balls than Lewis. Now he is even willing to take him on in his own back yard.

At the time Lewis was in the middle of a Championship battle. This year Jenson, himself in the middle of a championship battle, cancelled a triathlon event in which he was running with his engineers for charity. Doesn't that just say what they both did was sensible considering their relative position at the time?

I get the distinct feeling that Triathlongate was and is taken much more seriously by the fans than the drivers themselves

Err, Jenson competed in the 2009 London triathlon on 2nd August. He set a personal best time of 2hr 7min 2sec. Was Jenson not in the middle of a championship battle in August?

Its only something the bashers try and bring up. I think most people with more then half a brain take the view of Buttoneer

Indeed. Macca could organise it now. Good PR for the "super team" on the off season

Jenson pulls out of Windsor Triathlon due to injury concerns because it was a week before the British GP.

London Triathlon gave him 21 days to recover before the next GP. Last year the 'challenge' Triathlon was six days before the next GP.

Both drivers cancelled under exactly the same circumstances.

They definitely should!

No. Lewis didn't cancel, his dad did.

Why didn't Lewis simply say, "lets make it the 2009 London triathlon"?

If you watched the conference, it was clear that Lewis was shooting his mouth, whilst not actually wanting to prove the point.

Who is fitter? Jenson is confident in proving the point. Lewis, less so.

Both drivers didn't cancel under exactly the same circumstances.

Lewis only agreed, after being goaded by Jenson and DC.

Lewis claimed to be the fittest, yet was made look like a fool when challenged to prove it.

Lewis didn't cancel, his dad did.

Why make such a stupid and arrogant statement if you can't back it up?

Oh right - a new set of goalposts now?

Fitness and being a triathlete are not the same thing.

How good would Usain Bolt be at triathlon?

It's just a trick to equate the two.