Who is better Button or Coulthard?

[FB]

Following Andy Murray's defeat at the Australian open this weekend the Today prog on radio 4 ran a rather tongue in cheek article about why Scottish sport is at such a low. It made the point that Scot's are Scots when they lose but Brit's when they win

However, one comment from Jim White (a print journo apparently) was that David Coulthard was a "much better driver than Jenson Button" but DC never won a World Championship.

So, here's the question - Who's better 13 time Grand Prix winner (from 247 races) and WDC runner up in 2001 David Coulthard or 7 times Grand Prix winner (from 172 races) and 2009 drivers World Champion Jenson Button?

There is no third way with poll, you have to make a choice!

 

[Muddytalker]

Healthy car advantage or not, JB won 2 races in a row. Over 8-9 seasons of driving race winning cars, DC failed to do that, so I've gone for Jenson.

 

[teabagyokel]

The Brawn in 2009 was every bit as dominant as the McLaren in 1998. Button, unlike Coulthard, took advantage of the HCA, so I am forced by fact to go for Button.

And its not just Scottish sport that is at a low if the measure of 'low' is 'to have your #1 tennis player defeated by Roger Federer'.

 

[siffert_fan]

I don't think that DC ever had as dominant a car as the Brawn. Having said that, I also think that DC was too nice to be a number one driver. I also wondered about his mental toughness. His win at Monaco after his plane crash was classic, and clearly showed what he was capable of. I have neve been able to understand why he wasn't able to display that kind of form consistently.

With all of that, I still rate DC higher than JB. Button had a great opening to the season with a massively dominating car. However, as the season progressed, his performances dropped off markedly, and he did not seem able to improve the performance of the Brawn nearly as much as other drivers were improving their cars. He also had no competition from his teammate (and I am a big Reubens fan).

To me, this season will be very telling. If he is constantly being beaten by LH, I will maintain my belief that he is a natural mid-field runner who got lucky. If he outperforms LH, I will have to admit that I have underestimated him.

 

[Speshal]

And its not just Scottish sport that is at a low if the measure of 'low' is 'to have your #1 tennis player defeated by Roger Federer'.[/font]

or to be ranked #3 in the world

 

[cider_and_toast]

To me this question is like being asked "Would you prefer to be kicked in the spuds or punched in the face?"

I've never been a fan of either driver but since "can't stand either" isn't an option I'm going to reluctantly come of the fence and say Coulthard. Yes Button won a world title and yes he had to take advantage of the situation he was presented with but for the first half of the season he was only driving against himself (and occasionally his team mate). The part about the Brawn being so far ahead of the field is only one aspect to Buttons win the other aspect is that he was never seriously challenged (much to his relief I expect) until it was far too late.

Couthard it could be argued had better machinery through out almost his entire career, starting with a Williams that very nearly took the WDC to a Mclaren that did on two occasions however it could be argued that he faced far more challenges in each race than Button had to perform against. He was perhaps lacking the final few percent that would have seen him become a world champion but if you compare their first few seasons in F1 Couthard faired much better than Button and made more of what he had.

 

[McZiderRed]

I've voted for Jenson. DC was good on his day (e.g. a superb over taking manoeuvre on the shoemaker) but there were a few lacklustre performances as well. OK, DC was challenged a lot more when he was at McLaren, but maybe if Jenson was challenged more at Brawn, earlier, he would have needed to get more out of the car. Why do more than you actually have to...?

 

[FB]

As much as it pains me I have voted for Button. DC drove great cars for many years and never really imposed himself on anyone, Jenson had one season in a top car and won the WDC. Also, DC can't be better if only for that time he let Hakkinen through all those years ago in Australia - it just proved he didn't have the mental strength to be a champion.

 

[snowy]

I'm going to vote for Jenson. He may not be able to beat Lewis Hamilton in a McLaren but he spanked every other driver apart from M. Schumacher and Ruben's Barrichello in 2005 driving a BAR. He has driven many stupendous races in the wet, David was always noticably absent in the wet.

Jenson's rise to F1 was brisk for a good reason, he impressed by exhibiting speed and flare. David's rise to F1 was rather sedate and punctuated by occassional wins, more second and thirds and no points. Also Jenson has put a huge tick in the box marked guts by taking Lewis Hamilton on mano a mano. there aren't that many aspiring World Champions who would relish that task and no actual World Champions who would take it on.

 

[snowy]

I would just like to add that Andy Murray is bloody awesome! The amount of work and creativity that has gone into him becoming the best british tennis player in the last 70 years is stupendous. Only Roger Federer and Raphael Nadal work harder... Buck your ideas up Andy, you lazy lowlander!

 

[GeoffP]

I've gone for Button, not because I think he's necessarily the best driver, but he's got a much better record at getting the best from a car. Coulthard has spent many seasons in superb cars, I believe his time at McLaren was spent almost exclusively in the best car on the grid - OK, not for the whole season each season, but McLaren have always come on strong from Mid-Season, and he never exploited that.

It's a shame, with the right attitude to racing I think Coulthard had the skill and the places to be a great...