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So has Jenson got the advantage over Lewis now? (9 posts)

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RIISE said 2 years, 1 month ago:

Ok you can’t look too much into Malaysia what with the 6.9 second pit stop but Jenson kept those tyres going so well. Whereas Hamilton just couldn’t do anything with them, I feel although Lewis may be “smoother” behind the wheel than he used to be his aggressive style doesn’t suit the tyres.

If we get a dry race in China we should get a good gauge of how well Jenson can keep the tyres even if he doesn’t have the pure speed of Lewis. It’s like he said, you can lose 5 seconds a lap (Really?) if you shoot your tyres to quickly.

So what do you think, will it be a consistent theme of Jenson playing it cool and getting the jump on Lewis later in the race? Or will Lewis’s pace dig him out of it?

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djdaveyp85 said 2 years, 1 month ago:

IMHO they’ve always been pretty even as they are both fast at different stages of the race. Hamilton has the edge in qualifying, but on a day like today when looking after the tyres is important Button has the edge.

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Calum said 2 years, 1 month ago:

Everything went wrong for Hamilton today, I stil think he will win out of the Mclaren drivers, same margins as last year.

Today’s Button performed though! Reminded me of his performances in early 2009 and Monza 2010! Respect ;)

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Icthyes said 2 years, 1 month ago:

Can I bring my stat out again? Pretty please? 16-3 on pace last year?

I think today was a pretty strange day for Hamilton, even on the slower tyres he was lapping at Jenson’s pace when he was on the softs, it’s just the mysterious fourth stint where it all went wrong. Button said he kept adjusting the front wing and actually said the car felt better on the hards which may be down to set-up more than driving styles, etc.

I have a sneaky feeling today that Hamilton was asked to save the tyres but saved them “too much”, not enough heat went in and they started to go off anyway. It happened in a manner with button in Korea, he couldn’t get the heat in so they fell off, it was a similar story at Brawn.

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George said 2 years, 1 month ago:

I still think Hamilton will beat Button pretty badly this year. Hamilton’s race went a bit awry in the second half of the race due to strategy, I wouldn’t read too much into his performance on the hards with so little evidence.

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AndrewTanner said 2 years, 1 month ago:

Too early to say about individual drivers from just two races but I can see pace vs. durability of tyres being bigger than the last few years.

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Ned Flanders said 2 years, 1 month ago:

I think that’s jumping to cocnclusions. Remember, Hamilton has had the beating of Button for every competitive lap of the season until the last few laps of the GP today. Maybe if the trend repeats itself over the next few races we can assume Hamilton has lost his mojo

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TommyB said 2 years, 1 month ago:

So has Jenson got the advantage over Lewis now?

Because he beat him in one race? No.

They are pretty evenly matched though, Lewis goes off into the distance but normally after the pitstops they end up together.

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James_mc said 2 years, 1 month ago:

Nah, I don’t think so. Hamilton’s lap times didn’t seem to be dropping off dramatically as you would expect from someone who is “awful, and ruins their tyres all the time, particularly compared to his super-smooth-silky-shiney, squeaky-clean, glass-like, ice-esque team-mate Button”.

It’s not been uncommon in races gone by for drivers to just not feel as comfortable on a different set of tyres. Factor in a very poor stop for Hamilton, bizarre strategy calls by McLaren and a carbon fibre-shredding touch with Alonso, it’s not really surprising that Button had the beating of him this time.

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