Habit? What are the other ones then?

COMPLETE AND UTTER RUBBISH. 2 or 3 seconds maybe, but not 4 and 5 seconds it went up to.. The fact was Button was getting dropped by Vettel, while Hamilton, Webber and Alonso at that stage was matching and catching Vettel.

Q. How much of a challenge did you have from the Ferrari?

RK: I had more challenge from Hamilton and I was very surprised he pitted. First of all I thought it was a drive through as for me it was strange that he was pitting. He was much quicker than me. He was not far behind Jenson and at that point of the race if he had managed to overtake me, most probably he would go for it

Oh i guess Kubica doesn't know what he's talking about...

oh - I assume you missed the 4 laps previous....

To be fair, Lewis does like to leave his passing attempts to the very last lap.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFDKn2icx_A

Ah - so if he did it once in differnet circumstances, he could be guaranteed to do it again??? No.

I'm not going to get too involved - but you should lok at the fact that Button WON on his own merit, and find your answer.

Button was unhappy on his inters - Lew passed - fair enough - Lew was 1.8 seconds faster than Alonso and couldn't get a sniff - and you think he would have passed Button? How lovely.

Lewis, Kubica, Norbert Haug, are not the only ones who were to wonder about this decission

Lewis would have won from 11. place...

Well said.

Come on! You are overreacting here. Ok, Whitmarsh has shown a bit of preference for Button but this would have no bearing on the race outcome. There is no way McLaren would try and hinder Lewis to boost Buttons chances. It makes no sense whatsover. If you watched Live timing you'd see nothing to suggest Button is anywhere near Lewis pace. If there was any doubt who would prevail over the season then erase them as Lewis was easily half a second a lap faster per lap. Button would occasionally beat Lewis but I'd put it down to lucky breaks like today. Lewis issue should be with his engineers - the call they made on Q2 letting him wait in the cockpit for 4 mins after he had aborted his lap due to traffick and then sending him out with used tyres. This is what lost him the race.

Well that was an excellent race and well done to Jenson and Lewis.

Jenson won that race today with a bit of luck with Seb's car failing AGAIN and with his quick thinking regarding the tyres. It was a gamble that paid off and i thought he fully deserved that win today. He didn't really do anything special in terms of driving but he kept a cool head even when he went off the track after pitting for slicks. Alot of people wrote Jenson off but he is always going to have a chance in the race at beating Lewis because of his experience and just the fact that he is a world champion and a fast driver.

Now onto Lewis, this kid is quite simply an amazing driver, maybe the best on the grid, who with a bit more luck and better decision making by his team would of been fighting Jenson for the Win. Some of his overtaking moves today kept me on the edge of my seat and basically made most of the race for me. Now im a Jenson fan but im not a fan boy and i speak the truth in everything i say, Lewis was really unlucky today not to have a chance for the win/podium.


I'm hoping for more wins like this for Jenson but i don't think he will beat Lewis come the end of the season, we did have the first battle on the track which sadly Lewis won :-)

Oh, this is my first post so hi everyone hope you all enjoyed the race after what happened in Bahrain.

Welcome.

So I guess Vettel's brakes didn't blow and gift Button first place then




There's a huge difference in having to pass a single car, than being behind several cars and making a pass. Lewis was just about to try and pass Alonso when Webber took him out, and he possibly could have passed Mass as well. But that's a lot of if's, but's and could haves. Jenson drove a great race, and I'm really happy for a McLaren win, but he owe's a lot of that down to providence as well.

If the 2. pitstop was not made
Lewis wouldn't have had to overtake Alonso
He overtook him him already
He was behind Kubica
and Kubica self agreed Lewis was much faster, and Lewis was not far behind Button

Nice first post from a Button fan.

I saw this analysis on Planet-F1 (who are usually rubbish) but I think here they are 100% correct and have analysed clearly:

http://www.planet-f1.com/race-features/605...rom-Australia...

Sssh, in this thread you are supposed to slag off the driver you don't like it seems and write them off after two races Welcome on-board and hold on tight

I don't think many people would disagree with you that Button thoroughly deserved his win, despite that it was by virtue of a fortunate (albeit brilliant) tyre call.

It is amusing (if slightly tragic) that you can only criticise Hamilton despite him pulling a race like that. I guess someone has to do it to provoke debate around here though ;)

The one thing that stood out for me and has made me wonder, how come Jenson was able to make the call on tyres but Lewis relied on the team for the call on tyres.

/thread.

A question for the wise. If Button is this super smooth, ultra slick operator in tyre conservation, how come his wet tyres were destroyed forcing him to pit early? Secondly, I don't know what race some people were watching, but Button was getting dropped in race pace by Vettel. In Bahrain his excuse was being caught behind Schumacher. This time he had no excuse, he was in clear air and was getting left. Alas we'll never know what Buttons race pace would have been if drivers were catching him. Minus my whinge, today was a great race and my slight bias for Hamilton made the race even more enjoyable. His overtakes were immense. To be honest, I even enjoyed Webber going toe to toe,m because he is uncompromising. Hamilton must have hogged 60% of the TV covergae. The race camera's follow him for a reason, because he brings more excitement to a race than anybody else. Compared to Bahrain, today was a 9/10. Drivers of the day, Kubica, Button and Hamilton

He still couldn't get past him though could he?

Lewis drove a great race but a lot of the people he got past made mistakes, as soon as he got behind people who didn't make mistakes he didn't get by.

All this comparison between lap times etc is totally pointless. Lewis would have driven a completely different race if he was where Jensen was and vice-versa.

Personally I think Lewis needs to start speaking up a bit about the engineering choices. Maybe it was wrong what happened to him in Q2 but he could have said he wanted fresh tyres. He could have pitted the lap after Jensen or said No to the 2nd stop.

It's all ifs, buts and maybes.

Let's remember, Button was saving his tyres so he didn't have to pit again, whilst Lewis was burning his rubber significantly quicker by setting explosive times to catch up -- and would his tyres have lasted? I don't know but Button had the pace on his softs when he needed to push, and he never needed to push.

Does anyone have a link to the Norbert Haug quote on YouTube?

Not to mention Vettel...
People seem to "forget" that vettel was in front AND pulling away from button...
So there goes the great race from button, cruising to the finish line from the moment the guys did their stops as he already said, he wasn't pushing 100%...
How nice that is, makes button's fans really happy. Good for them...

The duell of the McLaren drivers
Cool head versus hot heart
to be continued

The race was one of the best races over the last years
Thanks to Lewis.

He had no choice, he trashed the interns...

With the no refuelling rules and state of the tyres this year, I expect this will be just the first of many races where Button schools Hamilton in such a way that it will be reminiscent of Prost vs Alesi at Ferrari back in the day.

Next year could be a whole new ball game, and so perhaps for the sake of his legacy in F1, Lewis needs to try and build momentum for rule changes to be introduced that will help out a driver who is less sophisticated at tyre preservation.

We won't know
if Lewis could have past Kubica
I think he could,sooner or later, but we won't know

This can be one of Lewis's weaknesses he relies too much on his team

LMFAO.... you seriously don't have a clue, do you?.... Button shredded his first set of tyres in 6 laps.

I'm a McLaren fan, so am happy if either of them wins.. but this kind of stuff is crazy talk.

J

Great fighting and never give up attitude of Hamilton, kinda a fusion between Nigel Mansell and Schumacher M grit, a kinda Montoya Brazil 2001 ending with Joss boss, or in this case Mark Webber taking him out.

Good entertainment, ashame about the extra pitstop, mistake that cost him maybe the win. Good to see Hamilton and Alonso briefly again.

I get the feeling that the McLaren team trust Button's decision making more than Hamilton's, but I don't know why. One example of where Hamilton was 100%RIGHT was in Australia last year. He questioned why he should have to let Trulli back past after he overtook him under the safety car but Hamilton knew that he was within the rules because Trulli had gone off the track, but he was overruled by the McLaren "strategists of the Century" (my new nickname for them unless someone can come up with a wittier and pertinent one). They stuff up his strategies time and again. It also happened in Hockenheim 2008. Hamilton must be sick and tired of it by now.

Yes, the red bull was the faster car but Button was maintaining a 5 sec gap because he didn't want to pit again to save his tyres -- which is why he wasn't 100%; he didn't need to push.

It's strange, when Lewis wins I feel it's he and McLaren that won, and that is correct. Now this season when Jenson wins I feel like yay Jenson won, and don't take note of McLaren lol. I guess I aint used to him in the Macca yet...

Button:

“It was a necessary move to pit for slicks. I was struggling for grip on the Inters, and the rears were destroying themselves very quickly, so we figured it must be time for dries. As I drove down the pitlane, I could see it was soaking wet and I feared it was a massive mistake on my part. When I left the pits, I went off the circuit and just thought, ‘Oh no!’

“But I got to grips with it pretty quickly, and soon started to feel really good in the car. I caught up behind Sebastian [Vettel], I conserved the tyres, I built a useful gap and I want to say a massive thank-you to the whole Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team: they’ve done a brilliant job."

Button wasn't maintainig any gap, he was losing time to Vettel...

where do you guys get this thing with the tyres there wasent anything wrong with his tyres
ppl still tink lewis as the tyre destroyer after 07 he learnd perfect to hold his tyres good
the team made a bad call thats it it has noting do with tyres fuel are anything just a bad call

Where did he say that?
It's not what he said in the press conference...

I don't like to speak it out,
but i think, Lewis is too long at McLaren
He maybe regarded there as "our boy" or a kid
peerhaps they don't take him serious enough
Button joined them as a WDC, not as a young boy as Lewis was.

Here:

Button:

“It was a necessary move to pit for slicks. I was struggling for grip on the Inters, and the rears were destroying themselves very quickly, so we figured it must be time for dries. As I drove down the pitlane, I could see it was soaking wet and I feared it was a massive mistake on my part. When I left the pits, I went off the circuit and just thought, ‘Oh no!’

“But I got to grips with it pretty quickly, and soon started to feel really good in the car. I caught up behind Sebastian [Vettel], I conserved the tyres, I built a useful gap and I want to say a massive thank-you to the whole Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team: they’ve done a brilliant job."

http://mclaren.com/news

I don't want to start any Alonso vs. Hamilton arguments but... if Alonso's car keeps performing like it is Lewis knows it is an uphill battle, and that the Spaniard is always going to be there. If the Brit is able to get over this and still win the WDC then I'll take my hat off to him. In the mean time he needs to shut his mouth and not criticise his team during the race.

Methinks Lewis wants out of McLaren...

It's a key difference that Jenson could simply feel his own tyres and drive into the pitlane having been passed. Lewis could only refuse to come in, and to do that he'd be second-guessing all the data the team have about the tyres and what the other teams are doing. Completetely different situation for each of them.

I know what you mean... I feel the same with Alonso and Ferrari as well... it seems right, but then it doesn't either...

Quite a different set of circumstances, with the McLaren obviously being set up for dry conditions and thus ruining the inters.

50 laps on one set of tyres, shows that Button is just in another league to Hamilton when it comes to tyre preservation.

+1

Lewis has to ask if Ross Brawn can join Mclaren perhaps

And from that you conclude that Button can't manage his tyres? Or that his tyres were in a worse state than other drivers?

By all means think what you want.
He DESTROYED his tyres. Fact...
The other drivers didn't went to the pits before him...

so if it wasnt his inter going off then he just slow is that what you wanne say

perhaps because of this

Lewis's tyres were not burnt up it was the fact that slicks were starting to be the faster tyre why Lewis was called in.
Interesting side note for all JB's fans who say he is kinder to the tyres.
JB had killed his inters lewis had not certainly not the expected result if JB is so much kinder to his tyres than Lewis.

Wow, and exactly who are you to tell Lewis how to speak to his team over the radio? Thats a ridiculous thing to say. All he said was " who made the call on the tyres? "

Man, he really went to town there anyway huh? calling them out, cussing, screaming. Ha.