Jenson set to sign new McLaren Deal. Is Jenson or McLaren the biggest winner ?

[Josephiah]

I have nothing constructive to add to this discussion, other than to express my mild disgust at the BBC's headline for this story: "Button poised to stay at McLaren". You can be poised to leap somewhere else; surely you can't be poised to stay...

(pointless mini-rant concluded)

 

[RasputinLives]

Ray - stop hitting people with baseball bats. We;re all entitled to our opinions harold!

Thread back on track with a 'well done Jenson' I don't think anyone expected him to settle into Mclaren so easy and do such a good job as he has.

 

[gilly]

Both will be winners. Jenson will stay in a top team who are capable of building race winning cars and championship contenders, even if McLaren haven't won a WCC wince 1998.

McLaren will benefit from having a driver that can win races for you and will get you a consistent flow of points during a championship season.

 

[MCLS]

I think this is the best pairing on the grid at the moment, both drivers push each other to improve, they seem to genuinley enjoy each others company and didn't fall out despite the Canada crash, kinda makes Red Bull looks stupid for the way they handled Turkey 2010 really.

 

[Cookinflatsix]

Am I alone in suspecting that Buttons best drives coincide with contract talks with his teams?

Looking back superficially at Jenson's career, his contract talks and negotiations have appeared to show a smooth calculating Jenson pushing things to the limit, more so than on track

maybe I am too cynical?

 

[Slyboogy]

Going off topic again

I think Button is a huge winner in this, he impressed me in Monaco, but then he also unimpressed me there aswell...

The reason why I say he is the winner in this deal is, I think he has nowhere else to go, except Ferrari, he's got more of a chance of doing something at McLaren, he will be at a top team for another 5 years!

I think McLaren should have given him a 2-3 year contract rather than 5...

 

[RayInTorontoCanada]

McLaren will raise his salary a bit, slightly sweeten his performance bonus clauses...and give him an extention to 2013, perhaps 2014...with options on their side. Button will be happy with that.

 

[Bill Boddy]

....Looking back superficially at Jenson's career, his contract talks and negotiations have appeared to show a smooth calculating Jenson pushing things to the limit, more so than on track....

Like that contract with Brawn where he took a pay cut, paid his own air fares and the cost of his own laundry?

 

[Brogan]

On the contrary, I'd wager the $100 million fine they received and the loss of all WCC points was the worst news in the history of McLaren.

 

[FB]

I think someone in a board meeting saying "That Michael Andretti bloke might be a good partner for Ayrton" ranks amongst the worst decisions at McLaren. Or, "Nigel Mansell doesn't have a drive, build the car I'm sure he'll be okay to fit in it"

 

[RasputinLives]

Fb, Brogan you're both wrong it was when someone said "Bring in that Jan Magnusen - he's a world champion of the future"

On the subject of Button negociating his contracts when he gets good results - of course he does - thats the best time to negociate contracts, its not underhand its just common sense. All F1 drivers do it, not just F1 drivers anyone with a job does it. I mean I for one do exactly the same thing. When my boss says - "well done Raspy, thats a great piece of work" I'm more likely to say "thanks....anyway about this bonus scheme" than I am if he says "Raspy! that decision could have coursed the collapse of the whole Scottish economy".

You should try it - works a lot better.

 

[RayInTorontoCanada]

This is the worst news in the history of Mclaren!

I'm afraid you don't know your history!

Three worst pieces of news in their history:

1 Bruce McLaren being killed at Goodwood in 1970

2 Honda pulling out of F1 at the end of 1992 and leaving the team in the wilderness until Newey/Mercedes came along.

3 Alonso's email threat and loss of all WCC points/$100 M in 2007. That affair could have wiped them out as top team. Mercifully it didn't happen.

 

[RasputinLives]

nah - I still think it was putting Jan Magnuson in the car

 

[RickD]

I think both are winners. Most people said Jenson was stupid to go to Mclaren (I wasn't one of them as his ability as a driver was never in doubt as far as I was concerned [some of his contract choices on the other hand...]). After the pairing, who out of the two current McLaren drivers was the first to win a GP? Some people say this is down to luck, but you make your own luck in this world and nothing is handed to you on a plate. Yes, Lewis is slightly faster than Jenson and can usually get that little bit more outt of the car, but it is only a little and in this game, speed isn't everything. If it was, Lewis would have 4 WDCs by now.

I think McLaren are standing by what they see and going for the best deal they can get at the moment.

 

[FB]

A gentle reminder to one and all that pointless, circular arguments will be deleted. Inflammatory comments and deliberate attempts at trolling or winding other members up will be deleted. Posts which attempt to moderate will be edited or deleted.

We all have personal likes and dislikes with regard to drivers. If we can avoid name calling, petty snyde remarks and attempts to wind up other members it woudl be much appreciated.

 

[RayInTorontoCanada]

I can see McLaren poaching the WCC with the MP4-26 this year with Hamilton and Button and so why not motivate Jenson even more by sweetening his deal slightly?

Hamilton's fast but not always consistent in his mind management. Button is consistent but not as fast as Hamilton. Together I think they can beat Vettel and Webber and Red Bull in this year's Constructors championship. I honestly do.

 

[Cookinflatsix]

I can see why Ferrari might want Button, also Button is bound to want to drive for Ferrari before he retires, so in that sense Mclaren have done well

However there is no guarantee for Button to either get into Ferrari or be allowed to race with Alonso around, so its also gain for Jenson.

I suspect Mclaren should give Button a contract with a good basic and high win bonus, I reckon we would see the best out of Jenson then (as of most drivers not so far from retirement)

 

[RayInTorontoCanada]

Apparently Jenson signed for 8 or 9 Mil a year during the sting of the tail of the recession (Dec '09). By contrast, Hamilton is said to have signed for 15-18 Mil year with the deal having been struck pre-recession (late 2007/mid 2008) when the likes of Toyota and BMW and even Honda were around to bid for talent.

So, upping Jenson to 10 mil + Bonuses would seem fair. More importantly, Jenson might value "longevity" (at a top team) more than another 2 or 3 Mil extra per annum...so McLaren will likely offer an extention (with an option) to 2014.

That should make the bloke happy. I mean he was staring at the abyss in November/December 2008 so the sweeteners he'll be getting will feel like Christmas Is Everyday in comparison.

 

[Pyrope]

Looking back superficially at Jenson's career, his contract talks and negotiations have appeared to show a smooth calculating Jenson pushing things to the limit, more so than on track

maybe I am too cynical?

Oh how this made me laugh. Jenson good at contract negotiation? Pull the other one, for this one is festooned with more bells than St. Paul's. Jenson's early career is littered with poor contract decisions and cases before the arbitration court. He was with Williams back when they could win races, yet he jumped out of that contract and straight into his manager's (Flav, at that point) back pocket at Benetton/Renault, who were in a down. Just as Renault were starting to come good he found himself replaced by Senor Alonso, and fled to BAR, where JV had singularly failed to impress for the previous few years. Just as BAR were starting to come good Jenson tried to head back to Williams, who were definitely on the downward slope by then. The courts forced him to stay at BAR, it wasn't his choice, and fortunately for him that led to a superb second half of 2005, and a win in 2006. When BAR morphed into Honda and the team started to collapse Jenson, despite his good showings, couldn't get a drive elsewhere, and was very lucky to be where he was when the Brawn phenomenon occurred. Again, his presence in Brawn was only because there was no other option. The McLaren move is the first truly sensible decision that Jenson has ever made for himself.

 

[RayInTorontoCanada]

So, who ended up buying Jenson's Bugatti Veyron back in late 2009? Anyone here?