McLaren gearing up for Red Bull fight in 2012

2012 F1 season preview

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McLaren's MP4-27 has bucked the trend for stepped noses

McLaren have not followed the 2012 trend for stepped noses – their MP4-27 is the only car revealed so far with a smooth nose.

It clearly looks better, but will it cost them in performance?

The team have been world championship runners-up for the last two seasons and are aiming to bring Red Bull’s domination to an end.

McLaren’s managing director Jonathan Neale told Sky today: “This year I think we start in better shape, certainly.

“It’s there for the taking; if we work hard enough and pull together as a team we should be aiming to win this championship.”

Car 3: Jenson Button

It was clear throughout 2011 that Jenson Button has found a happy new home at McLaren.

He produced a consummate performance in his second season with the team, winning three times and scoring more points than his fellow world champion team mate.

Jenson Button was runner-up in the championship last year

Button excelled in getting the best out of the fragile new tyres introduced last season. On the face of it, with Pirelli bringing softer rubber for their of their four compounds, he stands to benefit further this year.

Whether he can turn that into the basis of a championship campaign will, of course, depend on how competitive the MP4-27 is.

Button said that is likely to remain something of a mystery until qualifying in Australia: “You do all the work you can with your team and get the best out of the equipment that you have, and then you arrive at the first race and you see.

“I mean, even in practice on Friday before a race you don’t know where you stand. Qualifying is the place where you find out where you are compared to your competitors.”

The rivalry between him and his team mate adds a fascinating dimension to the contest. The pair are closely-matched but team harmony was put to the test when they clashed in Canada last year.

Car 4: Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton had a season of extreme highs and lows in 2011.

The highs included three wins – two of which were classic Hamilton victories in China and Germany where his prowess in wheel-to-wheel combat won him the day.

Lewis Hamilton needs to bounce back from a difficult season

But the lows – and there were many of them – came on the too-frequent occasions when his racecraft was found wanting.

The result was a string of needless collisions, a record number of trips to see the stewards, and a public row with Felipe Massa.

Although Hamilton was not always at fault it raised questions about his state of mind. His deliberate non-celebration after taking pole position in Korea fuelled speculation that all was not well within the Hamilton camp.

This year Hamilton will benefit from the experience of Didier Coton, former advisor to Mika Hakkinen. His progress will be keenly observed for signs of whether he can cut out the unnecessary mistakes that spoiled his 2011 campaign.

But that wasn’t the only chink in his armour last year. While he usually got the better of Button in qualifying, the tables were often turned on race day as Hamilton couldn’t make his tyres last as well as Button. It’s an area where he needs to improve this year.

This is an important season for the 2008 world champion as he weighs up his options for the future. His McLaren contract is up for renewal and his public chat with Christian Horner in Canada last year provoked speculation he is considering a move to Red Bull.

McLaren MP4-27

The MP4-27’s smooth nose makes it stand out in a field of step-nosed rivals. But inevitably, it has led to speculation that they might be missing a trick.

In a clear step forward from last year, the new car has run reliably in pre-season testing. In 2011 McLaren struggled with a complicated exhaust system and eventually abandoned it on the eve of the new season, bringing in a new solution for the first race.

The MP4-27 is substantially changed from its predecessor. Aside from the nose, one of the most visible changes is to the sidepods, where the U-shaped vents of last year are gone.

Technical director Paddy Lowe said: “This car in many ways looks quite similar but… underneath [there’s] a great deal of change.

“Every single part has been assessed, optimised for weight, stiffness, performance in any other respect. And when you add all of that up you get a car that’s net quicker, that’s the name of the game. So in every area the teams are tasked to find that one percent, two percent because we’re looking for that total.”

Jenson Button puts the MP4-27 through its paces at Jerez

Engineering director Tim Goss added “there’s very little that we’ve carried over,” onto the new car.

“We’ve worked extremely hard at producing a very integrated, aerodynamic and design package.

“There are a few features that we were pushing very hard from early on in the project and we’ve just stuck to the things that we think really, really matter, where we’re going to extract most performance from the car, and I’m just really proud of the whole team and their efforts so far this year.”

Last year as McLaren strove to put Red Bull under pressure there were times when they failed to take advantage of the performance that was available to them. Notably in Monaco, where a failure to get Hamilton’s car on track early enough in qualifying turned a potential shot at victory into a weekend to forget.

The hiring of Sam Michael from Williams as sporting director is partly aimed at ironing out these operational flaws. He describes his role as “sorting out the race team – and when I say sorting out, it’s already a very defined machine.”

“But McLaren is all about making things better than what everyone else is, and not using existing standards as a benchmark but trying to create new ones.”

McLaren have made a bad habit of going into new seasons with cars that are well off the pace – such as in 2009 and, to a lesser extent, last year. The early signs are the team have avoided falling into that trap this year, though as ever we won’t know for sure until the first race weekend.

McLaren’s championship form

https://www.racefans.net/charts/stats.csv

1966196719681969197019711972197319741975197619771978197919801981198219831984198519861987198819891990199119921993199419951996199719981999200020012002200320042005200620072008200920102011
Championship position910245633132387962511221111224444122233523112322
Wins00310013436300014112643151068550003977412110086256

McLaren in 2012: Your view

Which driver do you think will hold the upper hand at McLaren this year? Can they take the fight to Red Bull?

Have your say on McLaren’s prospects for the 2012 season in the comments.

2012 F1 season preview


Browse the 2012 F1 season preview

Images © McLaren

Author information

Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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63 comments on “McLaren gearing up for Red Bull fight in 2012”

  1. If Hamilton is able to empty his mind from everything that distracted it from racing in 2011, then I believe Button doesn’t have a chance against him. Pirelli tyres should be a bit more driver-friendly this year and teams will also have learned a lot about them so that might help Hamilton, too. And the mood at McLaren seems to be optimistic.

    I tend to think that Hamilton had an extremely unstable season in 2011 and that Button’s performance was very stable, very decent but not breathtaking. I believe that this story is true and it shows that McLaren themselves actually thought that their car was not much worse than RBR’s in 2011. But Button was not quick enough and Hamilton was too inconsistent.

    So if Hamilton can put the recent past behind we might be standing ahead of a classic F1 title fight between Hamilton and Vettel.

    1. I don’t agree there @girts While you are perfectly right in saying that Hamilton has it in his own hands to get on top of his performance, I Button will stand a chance. One key area Hamilton will have to improve is his strategical thinking about the race or indeed the whole weekend, so as not te be cought off guard by team mistakes.

      First of all, last year Button showed that he can win when the car is not absolutely perfect for him, something many thought was his weakest spot. And I think Button is still riding on the wave of confidence that stemmed from 2009 and can make it happen if the car is good enough to get in front of Vettel on a regular basis.

      Off course for McLaren the most important thing is to cut out the too clever thinking during qualifying and stop making little mistakes to make their life harder. Not to mention the car has to be fast enough to win right from the start.

      1. One key area Hamilton will have to improve is his strategical thinking about the race or indeed the whole weekend, so as not te be cought off guard by team mistakes

        Which is possibly the reason he’s brought in Didier Coton, so he can get some advise in those situations and learn and improve. Sam Michael’s appointment should go some way to improving the team’s strategic thinking too. I did get the impression that most of the strategy errors last season seemed to happen on Hamilton’s side of the garage though. Jense is just more experienced in this area I guess.

        Otherwise though, I don’t think that (even at 100% performance) Lewis would trounce Jense in the way that people seem to think. As you pointed out, Jense proved some doubters wrong last year with some of his performances, which were equally as good as Lewis’ best imo. If both drivers are on top of their game then we could be looking at some tasty rivalry between them this season.

        IF McLaren have a capable enough car, it could well be a three-way fight for the title between Lewis, Jense and Sebastian (at the moment, I can’t see Webber or Ferrari being strong enough, just my opinion).

      2. @bascb

        Last year Button showed that he can win when the car is not absolutely perfect for him.

        I don’t think so – not saying he can’t win when it’s not perfect, but I don’t think he proved that last year.

        1. @enigma, you think he proved it way back already?

          1. @bascb I don’t think any of his 2011 wins came in a car that wasn’t very good.

          2. @bascb @enigma I don’t think he has ever proved he can win when the car’s balance is off for him. To have a predictable car is an absolute must for him. As is shown in Brazil – he was quicker on the harder, slower tyres than he was on the softer quicker compound; because he preferred the balance on the hards.

            When the car is not balanced the way he likes it; he’s still out at sea. Which doesn’t matter much if he can always dial it out – which he seems to be doing of late. I don’t remember him saying the car felt rubbish during 2011.

          3. Which doesn’t matter much if he can always dial it out – which he seems to be doing of late.

            @raymondu999, i guess that was what I had meant to say, that Button seems to have found a way to get his car setup in a way to be fast with it most of the time

    2. Yes, the fact everybody says Button had a fantastic season and Hamilton had a poor one says a lot about both drivers.

      Jenson is good, but in case MP4-27 is capable of winning from day 1, I’d put my money on Lewis to fight for WDC.

    3. I find that article interesting in that they were saying what they needed to work on was one-lap pace so they could start outqualifying SV…fair enough, but to me if one doesn’t have race pace these days, DRS will quickly take care of any ‘one-off’ hot laps in quali meant strictly to put oneself higher up on the grid if not on pole. I would be more worried about race pace as a team rather than thinking they can keep a faster car behind them for very long while DRS exists. Pre-DRS, sure…much better chance of keeping cars behind you…nowadays…not so much.

      As to Button ‘not standing a chance’ if LH gets his act together…I find that hard to imagine after last year, as in, even if LH has a much more straightforward season and heads JB, I don’t think it will be a trouncing by LH. JB should at least be in there with a shout. After all, he does have the experience of winning races and a WDC too…

      1. One Lap pace is still highly crucial because Vettel’s strength was gaining enough distance during the first few laps to prevent anyone getting near him once DRS was available.

        Whether there was any exhaust/tyre-heating trickery or not, he still managed to have everything available to him at the start of the race, when it mattered most. Webber, conversely, was better once under way, but everyone mugged him and almost half his races were compromised as a result.

        1. Fair comment, Optimaximal…I was thinking of it as (or at least as the article Girts referenced) one-lap quali pace as opposed to pace for the first few laps of the race to form a gap, like SV was able to do as you point out. Either you have race pace and you can ‘DRS’ people and can keep yourself from getting ‘DRS’d’ or you don’t, and all I was suggesting was that without the race pace, putting the car on pole means nothing if you will soon be caught up on Sunday and then passed easily thanks to DRS.

          1. @robbie Or not. They’re trying to avoid a situation like Barcelona 2011.

          2. @raymondu999…my apologies…not getting the reference. LH came in second to SV and was within a second in the end, and JB fell back to 10th in quali but clawed his way back up to finish 3rd. ie. they showed race pace, no? Or, did you mean LH couldn’t DRS his way past SV for the win so ‘DRS’ing’ someone is not a given?

          3. @Robbie What I meant was better race pace isn’t the only thing you’d want. Vettel had inferior race pace (clearly) in the last 30 laps of the race; and Lewis was within a second for 17 last laps.

            There are times when track position is still preferrable to race pace. That’s what I meant.

          4. Got it raymondu999…I think sometimes I fall into the trap that DRS is always going to make it easy to make a pass as long as you can get within a second of a leading car, but that clearly is not always the case. No question you are right that track position is sometimes preferable to race pace.

            And it sure was even more important pre-DRS…no that I’m a fan of DRS whatsoever…I’d prefer they gravitate toward cars that are less aero dependant while maintaining mechanical grip through sticky tires.

    4. @Girts Hamilton at his best will be faster than anyone, but even if he gets back on track I wouldn’t rule Jenson out. Hamilton is extremely quick, but even if he has a normal season there’ll still be a mistake or two and a crash or two. And Button’s strategy, thinking and experience will pay off, so I think, even if Hamilton’s back at his best, his team mate will still give him a good run for his money.

    5. Hamilton had a straightforward season in 2010 and Button was in his first year in Mclaren – The end result was hamilton finished 26 points ahead of Button..just about a race win. And in old point system around 11 points.
      I don’t see any trouncing and clear dominating pattern here.
      If one lap pace was the only defining factor we all know that Trulli would be the greatest F1 driver post 1990s( I haven’t seen F1 before that to comment)..

    6. @girts Hamilton and Button have very different strengths. Hamilton is aggressive whereas Button is generally a smoother driver yet he still gets the job done. Perhaps if the drivers were more similarly matched then you could argue that one of them would have the upper hand eventually, but given that there is such a big disparity in how they race (and how good they both are in their own right) I believe that it will be a hotly contested battle at McLaren over the course of the championship.

  2. I guess for now the safe thing to say would be that at least Mac seems to be looking to start off this season on a good footing, albeit with their pace relative to the Red Bulls unknown. At least they don’t seem to be having technical issues, nor do they seem to be complaining about pace. So yes, I think it is a safe bet to say they will at least take the fight to Red Bull at some tracks, because if they were able to do that last year and presumably the cars are closer together due to rules stability…nuf said…

    Will it be JB or LH that has the upper hand? I expect that they will both be strong, and even though JB gained the upper hand last year and LH had some ragged moments, doesn’t mean the same thing will happen again. But I think JB has earned the right due to last year’s performance to at least get the nod prior to this season starting. It is up to LH now to prove last year simply carried some off moments for him and that he can keep it together better than that. I he doesn’t he will simply open the door for JB who showed he can hold his own just fine on a team that some still think is LH’s. I note that some are starting to suggest LH needs a change from Mac and Mac from him, so I guess if he has some more ragged moments this season and JB continues to excel, then those rumours on LH will ramp up bigtime.

    1. The one thing I hate the most about pre-season tests is inability to clearly compare one car’s performance against other… whatever, wait is finally coming to an end!

  3. As for the nose, last year showed that McLaren has a good concept of car design that is missing just a little bit.
    Suddenly changing that and going for a high nose would only bring the danger of doing something too clever again (like the focus on KERS in 2009 or the fancy exhaust in the winter last year).

    Not to mention that they would be worse off with finding the right setup for it, wheras now they can focus on that right from the start.

  4. Certainly getting the feeling that Mclaren will definitely take the fight to RBR and will give us a classic this season. On JB V LH, if LH rids of all the distractions, JB hasn’t got a hope in hell, if LH is otherwise, then JB for sure will pounce. After all, it did take LH the season he had for his team mate to outscore him i.e his worst ever and crashing numerously out of GP’s!

    Hope Ferrari and Mercs also spice up the action and add to what hopefully will be a classic year in f1.

    1. As I said above, I personally can’t imagine JB ‘not having a hope in hell’, no matter what LH does this year. LH had the season he did, so I think it is a bit folly to say it is only because LH had his ‘worst ever’ season that JB outscored him. Wouldn’t that be like FM saying if only he had a better season than FA he would have outscored him…or same with MS at Merc…if only…the fact is LH and MS did cost themselves points that may have put themselves ahead of their teammates. So be it. That’s racing. Lesson for them…you shouldn’t get into collisions if you want to best your teammate, and everyone else for that matter.

      I think the troubling thing for LH, and to me what he still has to prove, is that he can have a relatively trouble-free season. I recall that he threw away a couple of WDCs that were his to lose, and nearly did the same on the day he did win his WDC, so to me the onus is on LH to prove he can get through a season more cleanly.

    2. ‘JB hasn’t got a hope in hell’ – Really?

      In 2010, the only reason Jenson finished further behind in the points was because of two incidents in Spa and Monaco that weren’t his fault and cost him a sizeable amount of points. Was that a disastrous year for Lewis Hamilton? No it wasn’t, and Jenson was just as good.

      In 2011, Button raised his game, and admittedly Lewis had a bad season, but that doesn’t take anything away from Jenson’s performance, and to say that he wouldn’t have a hope against Hamilton if they were both on form is just plain ignorant.

      1. In 2010, the only reason Jenson finished further behind in the points was because of two incidents in Spa and Monaco that weren’t his fault and cost him a sizeable amount of points

        Casually forgetting Lewis’ retirement in Spain due to a wheel rim failure which would have been a guaranteed 18 points, plus the gearbox failure in Hungary whilst running 4th (I think). Both of them had retirements that weren’t their fault. So, it wasn’t “the only reason”.

        Although, your last paragraph makes a fair point.

        1. Also Button was nowhere in Monaco. At best he would have picked a point or two.

  5. For my own sake, I hope McLaren fails this year, but we all know that’s unlikely to happen.

    Button and Hamilton are both very strong drivers, but I think the latter has the upper hand. Even with all the drama of last year he still managed to score three wins. Two more than Alonso and Webber. That’s a champion trait if I ever saw one.

    He won’t have it easy though. Jense’s vastly improved since 2009, and I can definitely see him matching his teammate once again.

    1. ‘For your own sake’?

      What, have you bet huge amounts of money on RBR winning or something? Surely the odds will be so even you wouldn’t make anything.

      1. Not really, it’s just a fancier way of saying that I want to see them endure some problems for once.

        1. For once? I think they would say they had problems last year. Problems with their exhaust starting in testing. Problems with pace too often, starting in the off season. Problems with LH’s ragged performances. Problems beating SV to the WDC. I don’t think Mac ever again want to have more problems than they had last year. I guess spygate and liegate are things they won’t want repeated either. ie. ‘for once’ seems rather generous.

          1. Last year? Sure, they couldn’t initially keep up with the RB7, but nobody really could. And at the end of the season they were the only ones even remotely close to Vettel.

            I admit that my usage of “for once” may not have been the best, though.

          2. Fair comment, Pamphlet…was just having a little fun with your ‘for once’ but that is hard to translate in text. For sure you are right that they can draw something positive from how they progressed by the end of the season and closed the gap to SV and secured themselves 2nd in the WCC, not to mention JB’s 2nd in the WDC. Many teams would love to have those kinds of problems.

        2. Short memory dude, you’re forgetting 2009.

          It was pretty crushing watching Hambo and Teflonso duke it out for 13th place at Silverstone.

          But we did get Button winning the WDC, ooh and Barrichello won one too, which was nice.

  6. Superb as always Keith!

    I don’t think it was simply Hamilton’s mistakes that helped Button outdo him last year. I specifically remember on race day Button on more than one occasion having better pace, if not the only one catching Vettel, especially as the race progressed. In that light, either of these guys have a great chance if the the team can pick up from where it left last year.

    However – Vettel, on the other hand, seems to be harnessing the strengths of both of these two, and effortlessly so.

    1. If you think about it, it worked in is favour that McLaren had two drivers fighting for wins. If (for example) Button who had taken all 6 of McLaren’s wins, we might have seen a massively different championship.

      1. True but I still honour any team that legitimately hires the two best drivers they can, and truly lets them race it out on the track with equal opportunity. If MW had been able to shake SV’s cage once in a while, that too would have changed Mac’s chances.

  7. I’d love Button to remain as competitive against Hamilton. It was a great battle to watch last year!

    As for the MP4-27’s pace, I’m as in the dark as everyone else. I’ll be extremely disappointed if they’re the only team that can take the fight to Red Bull. I’d love to see Ferrari and Mercedes at least being as competitive as McLaren.

  8. OmarR-Pepper (@)
    1st March 2012, 14:38

    This year is the moment of truth for McLaren, they have alredy had these two champs last year, they look as hanging on very well, they both won races last year, so the obvious step forward is to win the championship right? Remember the time when Kimi won more races than Alonso but missed the championship because of the inconsistent car? or the battle McLaren had in 2007 (with Kimi as a rival this time) when they permitted an open battle to Hamilton and Alonso… Mc Laren are a team used to winnin WCCs from time to time, you can see the regularity of this… 98 (and 99 WDC) by Mika and 2008 by Hamilton, so they need another hit this time. Of course Red Bull is the team to beat and noone can deny it. Newey’s creatures are bloddy fast these recent 3 years (even including the Brawn time)

  9. The difference in driving styles of the 2 Macca drivers will give the team an advantage. It’s like a 2 pronged attack!
    After each drivers skill level is considered each driver is just a gambler in the risky game with infitite variables which is F1 racing.
    Button and Hamilton choose to operate at opposite ends of the risk scale.

    High risk = High rewards.. Low risk= might just clich it if lady luck turns her back on the rest of the grid

    I think thats what makes it difficult to read between these two at this point in the season..

    My bet is that Hamilton can employ some sound risk avoidance strategies while allowing himself to race in a typically ballsy fashion and just clinch it..

  10. In this article you state “Hamilton couldn’t make his tyres last as well as Button”, and i’m sure that i’m wrong but I can’t remember that really being a problem for him last year. Could someone give me an example?

    1. look into the race charts of the 2011 season… there is always a chart about..in which lap the drivers came in… or who get the maximum out of it….
      Button IS just unbelievable smooth on his tyres…… it´s like Jenson makes sweet love to his tyres while Lewis just takes them for a quick romp… i know, i know:D but i find it quiet fitting actually

      1. It’s not just the smoothness of Button’s driving, but also his intelligence; Jenson sometimes deliberately drove slower in order to preserve his tyres. One example was in Japan. After Jenson got pushed onto the grass by Vettel at the start, Lewis set about chasing Vettel, immediately going as fast as the tyres would allow. In the first two laps, he was perhaps 7 tenths faster than Jenson, in the two laps that followed perhaps one or two tenths faster. Then followed a few laps in which they were evenly matched, and then Lewis’s tyres were falling off the cliff and he was losing seconds a lap.

        Another example of Hamilton’s tyre woes was in Valencia, were early in his second stint, his team was on the radio telling him to slow down, whereupon Hamilton replied: “I cannot go any slower!” A few laps later his team asked him to speed up, and now he had to reply that he couldn’t go any faster.

        In 2010, on the Bridgestones, I feel Hamilton was able to outpace Jenson on most days, while on a handful of days Jenson could match him. On the Pirellis, however, I’m not sure Jenson can be so easily beaten in terms of ‘stint management’, and anyway I don’t see that as Hamilton’s strength.

        Nevertheless, as a Hamilton fan I do hope Lewis can consistently pull something out of the bag. If the McLaren is a challenger, though, then Jenson will certainly be challenging.

  11. What shocks me about McLaren is how they consistently be a top team, yet not win as many Championships as they should. Their last Constructor’s title was in 1998! Since then, Ferrari, Renault, Brawn and RedBull have all won titles. They only have one driver’s title in the last decade, a lucky one with Hamilton, who only won it by a single point!

    A team with such fantastic engineers, designers and men in charge, a team that has employed Kimi, Mika, Coulthard, Montoya, Alonso, Hamilton and Button over the past decade should have more to show for it. Yes, Ferrari, Renault and RedBull have all had dominant periods, but McLaren has always been right there, nipping at their heels. I’m just wondering what it’s going to take to get them to make that last final step.

    1. I think it just shows how hard it is to win and how small the margins are. If Hamilton is lucky to be a World Champion then he is equally unlucky not to be a double World Champion.

  12. if they know whats good for them, dont focus too much on RBR and Ferrari cuz my boy Kimi’s team is looking FIERCE and FAST!!! 1st day baq and topping the timesheets by 3 and a quarter tenths…ohhh

  13. Keith – Unless the last time McLaren won a championship was 1998 I think there may be an error in the chart…

    1. The chart covers constructors position, so that is right, they haven’t won it since 1998.

      1. Haha, whoops, I’ll just hang up my F1 membership card on the way out…

    2. Weird, isn’t it? You always think ‘surely they’ve won it since?!’

  14. If only I had Button’s luck. Lucky to win a race, lucky to win a title, lucky to be the only team mate EVER to beat Lewis Hamilton, even luckier than Alonso in that sense.

    He should put a pound (just the one) on the lottery, with his luck he wouldn’t need any more.

    Or could it be (Nah, surely not) that he actually deserves credit for his success.

    I guess if Lewis does beat Jenson by improving his strategy it will be down to Lewis’s superior skill and nothing to do with his ‘new’ adviser. And if he doesn’t, I guess he was badly advised.

    It’s true to say that Button didn’t beat Lewis last year. Lewis did that all on his own. He had some bad days when he should have made better decisions before he even arrived at the track probably. I hope he has a full on year so that we can see two great team mates having a good season and giving us the best show F1 can give us.

    1. oh sweety …. why so sour?…. :D:D:D lol i totally get a kick out of people like these ….so pathetic… :D

    2. I recall the day when Jenson was walking by the backyard of an F1 track and Williams picked him up because they found him handsome at that young age. Yeah a lot of luck.
      Are you saying that every one is there by chance and they just got lucky? Only Lewis is there because he deserves it, but he is unlucky?

      1. Actually I am a huge Button fan and getting a bit sick of everyone intimating for example that Button only beat Lewis because he had a bad year.

        1. well then you def should read up on POE`S LAW! :D

  15. that photo of lewis is nothing short of amazing!!!

    1. how do you even take a photo like that!!??

      1. You stick a photographer on the tip of the nose. :D

  16. I wonder if in 2011 Button’s race/stint pace is actually generally above Lewis’s. Lewis seems to me quicker at the start of the stints; then there is a crossover and JB is quicker; with JB being a net result faster OVER THE STINT. But I think possibly sometimes Lewis comes into an accident in 2011 where the crossover point hasn’t happened; and so people only see the part where Lewis was quicker.

    1. @raymondu999 Button can look after his tyres more, so while Hamilton comes out of the box nice and fast, Button ultimately has the performance available from the tyres towards the end of a stint.

      1. What you say is a given – but there is a “break-even” point between the two – the pace vs longevity discussion – There will be times when Button will be just plain too slow that even if he could save a pitstop he still won’t beat Lewis; and there will be times that Lewis will eat his tyres so fast even stronger pace won’t save him.

        What I’m saying is that it seems that actually Button has been getting the better end of the stick in this regard in 2011 – by his own doing, that is – but people don’t realize that; because Lewis in 2011 seemed to run into trouble before Jenson’s end-of-stint pace advantage over Lewis could manifest.

  17. Last paragraph sums it up for me really. McLaren are a force to be reckoned with when it comes to development, 2009 was as sure a sign as any for that.

    I expect Hamilton will have sorted himself over the winter, clearly he had a lot of personal issues and he won’t be happy if Button manages to beat him for a second time.

    Wouldn’t it be great for Button if he was the only ever guy to beat him over the course of a season throughout Hamilton’s F1 career?

    1. @AndrewTanner

      Last paragraph sums it up for me really. McLaren are a force to be reckoned with when it comes to development, 2009 was as sure a sign as any for that.

      I wasn’t convinced then; and still am not now. If you actually took a look at the aerodynamics of the MP4-24; and the upgrades applied to the car – there were only 2 things wrong. The car itself was actually a sound design.

      They only realized that their endplate philosophy was wrong halfway through the season; and created outwash endplates (basically the endplates send the air out the sides). That fed a LOT more air to the rear of the car – feeding the already-decent design that was just air-starved at the back; and the weight distribution was off; which they rectified.

      They applied both upgrades at Nurburgring; and what happens? Lewis is a front-runner. The MP4-24 at Suzuka was a front runner. They weren’t a match for the RB5; but that’s a car whose “daughter” went to outqualify everyone by a second everytime they went to a fast high downforce circuit the next year.

      Compared to the rest of the field; they were still very very good. You don’t qualify 3rd in Suzuka if you don’t have very good downforce.

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