Jenson Button says he and new team mate Fernando Alonso want similar handling characteristics from their McLaren, which will help them in 2015.
Alonso has returned to McLaren this year and joins Button who enters his sixth year with the team. The team revealed its new car, the MP4-30, earlier today.
“Fernando is a very experienced driver, a very complete driver, as you would expect from someone that’s had so much experience in this sport but also a double world champion,” said Button.
“Which is great for me, I love having a team mate that obviously pushes me hard but also has the experience to give great feedback.”
“So we’ve spent a little bit of time together this year, but not a lot, before testing starts,” he added. “And from what I see in the data from the simulator runs and from the feedback I get from Fernando, I think we like a similar car which is very important for us moving forward in terms of shaping and moulding the car in a certain direction.”
“I’m looking forward to the partnership, hopefully it’s a good one.”
2015 F1 season
- How a secret Mercedes engine mode helped pressure Vettel into a race-ending puncture
- Over 100 driver penalties issued in record-breaking 2015
- Part-time racer? The facts of Hamilton’s ‘jet-set lifestyle’
- The Complete F1 Fanatic 2015 season review
- Your favourite – and least favourite – F1 races of 2015
Mashiat2 (@mashiat2)
29th January 2015, 13:10
I still don’t understand why Alonso opted to continue with his Asturias colors. I mean sure, the colors hold some value for him, but I much prefer his helmet from the 2007 season. Anybody else struggling to envision this McLaren with Alonso’s helmet. They just don’t seem to match!
Breno (@austus)
29th January 2015, 14:16
Alonso’s helmet never matched Ferrari’s red either.
Mashiat
29th January 2015, 14:57
@austus You’re right, it didn’t, but it looked a damn sight nicer than in this McLaren. Just try to imagine a blue and yellow helmet in a silver McLaren cause I can’t.
James Whiteley (@james)
29th January 2015, 16:16
Why should he change it if he likes it? I like to see drivers keep some kind of identity and not change it every 5 minutes.
BasCB (@bascb)
30th January 2015, 9:29
I see it completely contrary @mashiat2. I like that he gets back to HIS design instead of having a sponsor dictated one that is easily forgotten next year. His McLaren helmet from 2007 was a huge disappointment, and his Ferrari Helmets also seemed to be far to corporate to me.
viviane
10th May 2015, 0:49
alonso starts new season with domination, then eybody wil start dreaming of this colours combintion ; ]. it ´sall about winnig. nobody cares about aessthetics.
Martin
29th January 2015, 13:20
If Alonso starts new season with domination, then everybody will start dreaming of this colours combination ;). It’s all about winning. Nobody cares about aesthetics.
lockup (@)
29th January 2015, 13:45
I can’t wait to see how they compare. With all the changes and Ron I could see McLaren back at the top, if things go their way.
Sam Andrew
29th January 2015, 13:52
Button beating Alonso could be the biggest upset of the season. Alonso always seems to get the best out of any car so there will be very few excuses. Fingers crossed for some drama :)
Breno (@austus)
29th January 2015, 14:17
Eh, Alonso has never been out scored, I don’t expect it to change. I do expect Button to be much closer than Massa and Raikkonen though.
David BR2
29th January 2015, 18:23
‘Never’ as in ‘only once’ presumably.
Dylan Lees
29th January 2015, 18:50
If you mean Trulli, then fair point – but it wasn’t over a full season and only by 1 point, so hardly conclusive.
If you mean Hamilton, then he didn’t. Same score, won on countback.
David BR2
30th January 2015, 2:32
re: Trulli, what season was that?
Hamilton didn’t score more points, but he beat Alonso over the 2007 season according to FIA’s scoring system, so it depends what you take ‘outscored’ to mean. Anyhow, I’d say there’s absolutely no chance, putting aside bad luck, that Button will beat Alonso this season. On current form, only Hamilton (again) and Ricciardo would be able to, I think, and it would be extremely close.
puneeth Bharath (@puneethvb)
30th January 2015, 3:34
Last time I checked outscoring someone means scoring more than him… If you go by that definition nobody has outscored Alonso over a full season… Hamilton did finish ahead of him but dint outscore and its fair to say they were evenly matched in 2007… Hamilton was mighty impressive because he was a rookie and nobody expected him to match Alonso..
lh_fa
30th January 2015, 8:56
countback is a better measure than points. it means somebody had better results overall when they *did* finish a race. in this case, they didn’t have to go deep. hamilton had more second-place finishes.
but that’s not even the incredible point. lewis was a rookie in that year and fernando coming off back to back championships. and we can’t say that the cars had no power like the 2014 cars where 16-year old drivers can jump in and immediately go fast.
fernando himself has always maintained that he thinks lewis is the best on the grid (despite lewis not finishing even in the top 3 in the championship since 2008). a couple of years ago, people thought he was saying that just to irk vettel but he was vindicated in 2014 and said that it was others who had to re-appraise vettel.
one thing that is never pointed out in the alonso-hamilton thing is that, if anybody would know how good hamilton was, it would be alonso. they drove for the same team and he used to wonder where the rookie is getting those extra tenths from. lewis outqualifed him several times (even if we include/exclude hungary) and would have easily walked away with the championship had it not been for reliability.
they’re both great drivers and i was rooting for alonso in 2007, actually, but lewis was the better performer in 2007 and when all is said and done, if numbers are what people are concerned about, lewis *will* have the better career.
Nick (@nick101)
30th January 2015, 12:07
@lh_fa
I’m sorry, but Hamilton winning the title in 2014 vindicated NOTHING. It was the most dominant car in F1 history. In short, my dog could have driven that thing to 1st or second in the championship.
The only thing that 2014 proved was that in the same machinery, Rosberg was faster over 1 lap but Hamilton was the better racer and that Mercedes built a car better than all of the others on the grid by a country mile!
Davej
30th January 2015, 13:51
Hi Nick just out of curiosity, are you the same ‘Nick’ who is always putting ridiculous comments about Hamilton on SkyF1 &JAonF1? “My dog could win in that W05”. Well clearly your dog is more talented than Rosberg because he couldn’t. And if you say 2014 vindicated nothing about Hamilton then I guess you can say the same about Vettel, Schumi, Alonso, Button who all won the championship with the best car on the grid. By best I mean won the constructors championship and not people’s meagre opinions of what they perceive to be the best. In fact in recent memory only Lewis has won the championship with a car that finished 2nd in the constructors.
lh_fa
30th January 2015, 19:10
@Nick
i’m the one who’s sorry because the vindication i was talking about was alonso’s comments about vettel being the best. after all, you can’t be the best on the entire grid if you’re not even the best on your team, while your teammate is winning multiple races without even looking stressed out.
alonso always said that if vettel performed well in a bad car (as ricciardo did, and alonso has had to do, and lewis–say, in 2011 when the mclaren started the season 2 secs behind–has done as well), then he would give him props.
for some context about the alonso comments (although he’s made them for several years when vettel was dominating), here’s one link of him claiming vindication:
alonso comments on vettel/hamilton
your dog in a mercedes must be a better driver than ricciardo in a red bull because he was in championship contention until the end of the 17th of 19 rounds.
Don
30th January 2015, 23:33
Nick,
You are spot on. Hamilton’s championship proved nothing and was the same as Vettel’s. MANY drivers could have won the WDC in that car.
babis1980 (@babis1980)
29th January 2015, 15:04
Oh my lord…. these two guys in their white overhauls look like escapees from a mental institution…… the car looks pretty interesting in the back, has pretty cool front suspension but the nose is Brawn-like and finally these colors……bliahhhhh
Neusalz (@dpod)
29th January 2015, 15:47
I think Button does well for someone being so tall, it’s pretty impressive.
sonia luff (@sonia54)
29th January 2015, 18:27
I’ve met him and he’s 6ft which is tall for a F1, driver most of them tend to be short and lightweight. I think he and Hulkenburg are the tallest
Neusalz (@dpod)
30th January 2015, 1:00
@sonia54
Wow! That’s taller than I thought!
Vergne has mentioned how he loses .2s or so a lap compared to the smaller and lighter drivers, makes you wonder how fast Button would be if he was Fernando’s or Lewis’s height.
The Blade Runner (@)
30th January 2015, 15:14
You’re right, Button is very tall for an F1 driver. I met Bottas in Hungary last year and he was absolutely tiny. Think “jockey-sized”.
jsw11984 (@jarred-walmsley)
29th January 2015, 19:45
I was just thinking that, I never realised how much taller Button is then most drivers, he’s a good 3-4 inches taller than Alonso.
Fernando looks so short/squat in that photo when compared to Jenson.