Jenson Button

Arguably the best ever driver in mixed conditions, all his wins at Mclaren have come in those conditions. His last race win in the dry came at the 2009 Turkish GP.

Button is known for his smooth driving style and is normally seen in must races doing one less stop than his rivals for tyres.

Buttons also know to be a bit of a practical joker and will take part in anything fun.

Since his debut in 2000 Button has won the majority of hearts in this country. But what is your favourite JB win?

Mine has to be Hungaroring 2006, in argubly a midfield team and he won the race in those mixed conditions to take his first win. I can remember James Allen been in tears almost and that was the first race Anthony Davidson ever commentated on.

 

[ExtremeNinja]

Jenson continuing to struggle with the same issues.

"I could not get any heat on the front tyres. I felt it straight out of the pits. I couldn't get any heat on the fronts and that is why I could not get a lap time on those tyres."

 

[Il_leone]

qualifying is really killing Jenson but lets see what he can do from 18th or wherever his grid position is

its been a while since we had someone win from 15th onwards

 

[Senna's_right_foot]

Tonight Sky Sports F1 at 7pm-7.30pm - Jenson Button Interview.

Jenson Button talks of his hopes of resurrecting his season and the problems at McLaren. Plus, his relationships with Lewis Hamilton, Sam Michael and Martin Whitmarsh, and more.

 

[racecub]

So did anyone watch it? What did he say????

 

[Mephistopheles]

I watched it and then stopped watching it as it was the same interview shown before the race at Silverstone It didn't deserve its own slot..

Anyway I'm relieved to see Jenson has found his mojo again...

 

[tooncheese]

mjo, where have you been?

 

[mjo]

Where have I been??

 

[RickD]

Mephistopheles - It was actually an extended version of that interview.

 

[Mephistopheles]

I'm not going to go on and on about it but I would like to say a massive thanks to whoever decided to change Buttons strategy today I mean absolutely top notch that was throwing away a podium like that, well done you! Fancy a game of chess sometime?

 

[RickD]

Agrees Mephistopheles - Shockingly bad call, it was obvious where he would come out and you could see all the way down the field that no-one could overtake, even with newer tyres..

 

[Il_leone]

Mephistopheles RickD

That was a ridiculous strategy call
I would have thought having just heard Vettel getting really impatient then surely the tactic had to be hold him as long as possible had to be the tactic in order to damage Vettel's tyres

Who thought funnelling Button back behind Senna was not going to lose time !



I am wondering why no one is spotting the strategy that Kimi Raikkonen has been adopting time and time again.... look after his tyres in his first stint and make sure he does his last pit stop as late as possible

 

[Mephistopheles]

The McLaren team in general just seem to be useless on strategy....

 

[Bill Boddy]

After the first pit stops Button was on the same pace as Hamilton when he was in clear air, which only makes the startegy more ridiculous.

The pit stop was just one of those unfortunate things that didn't help.

 

[Mephistopheles]

Actually he was closing in on the leading pair he had got the gap down from nearly 7 seconds to about 5.5 seconds to Hamilton, I just don't get it......

 

[RickD]

It doesn't make any sense, he could well have been giving Romain something to think about if they had got the call right, which would have helped Lewis AND possibly got Jenson a podium..

 

[Brogan]

Why didn't he refuse to pit if he was happy with the tyres he was on?

I have in the past seen some on here berate another driver for not being more independent and directing the team when it comes to tyres.

 

[RickD]

Brogan - He did question it, which is more than that other driver you talk about did. I would say about both though that you can question a descision, but if the team then says to do it anyway as they HAVE to do it (as messages to Jensons said), what else are you supposed to do as a driver who doesn't have the same information the strategists are supposed to have to hand (although I am starting to question whether they have any information to hand or whether they blindly make these calls!).

I suppose it comes down to do you trust your team or not..

 

[Brogan]

So if you trust your team, why question it?

 

[Senna's_right_foot]

Damon Hill stated on SKY that if Button was happy with the tyres he should have questioned the call to switch to 'plan B', which he did ("are you sure?"). In this case I don't think he had much option other than to trust the team.
It does seem to point to yet another McLaren strategy mistake, so obviously not all the previous worries have been ironed out. He did look mightily annoyed post-race though, and this has a remarkable similarity to Hamilton in Canada - LH: "are you sure the others are 2-stopping?" Engineer: "yes, we're sure"

 

[The Pits]

Regardless of the condition of the tyres, the team know better than the driver where they should come out on track, and who is likely to be there. The broadcast of team radio necessitates limited info being passed, however, on this you need to trust the team. Not sure how he would have done, but I believe that two places were lost in the stops, regardless of the actual strategy, where one lap extra may have made the difference. That will hurt the wdc and wcc.