Hamilton keeps his title hopes alive as Button’s fade (McLaren race review)
Second place in Korea keeps Lewis Hamilton within range of the championship leaders heading into the last two races.
But Jenson Button seems destined to lose his championship crown. He struggled for pace in the rain and slumped to a point-less 12th after spinning near the end of the race.
| Jenson Button | Lewis Hamilton | |
| Qualifying position | 7 | 4 |
| Qualifying time comparison (Q3) | 1’36.731 (+0.669) | 1’36.062 |
| Race position | 12 | 2 |
| Laps | 55/55 | 55/55 |
| Pit stops | 1 | 1 |
Jenson Button
Looked in good shape on Friday but found little grip on Saturday and could only manage seventh on the grid:
This afternoon I couldn’t get the tyres up to temperature and struggled a bit with locking fronts and rears. I didn’t have enough grip and couldn’t find enough pace.
Jenson Button
Button decided to run some new suspension parts but Hamilton chose not to.
In the race he was passed by Michael Schumacher early on and gambled on an early switch to intermediate tyres shortly afterwards.
That left him mired in a pack of cars where he was further delayed by Adrian Sutil squeezing him off the track. He made little progress and a spin in the latter stages compounded a miserable race that all but killed off his championship hopes.
I just didn’t have enough grip today. I was really struggling with locking fronts as soon as I touched the brakes; every time I braked for a corner, I went straight on because I couldn’t stop the car.
Also, I lost three or four places when Adrian decided to drive me off the circuit – I don’t know what he was thinking. Even without that, though, I didn’t really have the pace today.
In my view, for sure, the race should have been stopped earlier than it was – it was way too dark to race a Formula 1 car in the conditions we witnessed at the end of the afternoon.
To win this championship, I’ll now have to rely on the cars in front of me failing, so today was a pretty disappointing day, all in all.
Jenson Button
Compare Jenson Button’s form against his team mate in 2010
Lewis Hamilton
Hamilton's worn tyres after the race
Fastest in the first practice session but was clearly bemused by Red Bull’s pace in qualifying:
We were very quick in practice, so I don’t know where the Red Bulls found an extra half a second in Q3.
Lewis Hamilton
In the 17 laps spent behind the safety car before the race started, Hamilton repeatedly said the conditions were safe for racing. His comments included:
Conditions are good, it’s getting drier all the time.
It’s no wetter than any other race I’ve ever had.
There’s no aquaplaning at all.
Lewis Hamilton
Once the race started Hamilton dropped behind Nico Rosberg, but he was quickly eliminated by Mark Webber.
He gained a place off Fernando Alonso when the Ferrari drier had a slow pit stop, but at the final restart Hamilton ran wide at turn one and lost the place again.
Finishing second means he is 21 points behind new championship leader Alonso:
At the start, I just wanted to get out there. I love racing, and I thought it was safe enough – 17 laps spent running behind the Safety Car isn’t good for the spectators, and it’s not fun for the drivers either. Additionally, I felt it had easily dried up enough for us to start racing – so I’m glad we did.
It was very tricky out there, particularly at the end. It was pitch black, I couldn’t see much and my tyres were finished. It was a big surprise to see both Red Bulls go out. Fernando drove really well, but I’m very happy to have scored some points after a couple of disappointing races.
However, ours still isn’t the fastest car: I was losing a lot of time to Fernando, particularly in the final sector. But I’m sure we’ll be working flat-out to fix that back at the McLaren Technology Centre before we head to Brazil.
Lewis Hamilton
Compare Lewis Hamilton’s form against his team mate in 2010
2010 Korean Grand Prix
- Mercedes deny Massa held up Schumacher for Alonso
- Korea say 168,000 attended first F1 race
- Alonso not considering Brazil title win
- Hamilton: Alonso would have passed me
- Button: “I will fight until it’s impossible”
- Horner hits back over Webber criticism
- Korean International Circuit: your verdict
- Montezemolo: “We haven’t won yet”
- 2010 Korean Grand Prix: the complete F1 Fanatic race weekend review
- Who was the best driver of the Korean Grand Prix weekend? (Poll)
Images © www.mclaren.com, Adam Cooper via Twitpic
wasiF1 (@wasif1) said on 26th October 2010, 2:26
It’s time for the Mclaren team & Button to put there forces behind Hamilton if they want the number 1 stays within their team.
MadMalc said on 27th October 2010, 11:11
No question, Jenson would be leading the championship if he had a Red Bull. But – his performance in this race was however, rubbish. He just gave up. The conditions were bad for everyone – he just failed to make the best of it and then says “There was something wrong” – it was his own mindset!!
Matt said on 28th October 2010, 11:00
I get the impression with Jenson’s present Mind set that he won’t push unless here is near the front.