Button expects to sign new McLaren contract soon

F1 Fanatic Round-up

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In the round-up: Jenson Button will extend his McLaren contract “within weeks”.

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Button to sign new McLaren deal ‘within weeks’ (The Telegraph)

“Jenson Button has reiterated his desire to stay at McLaren, despite the team’s current woes, insisting that he will sign a contract for next year within weeks and adding that he would like to stay on for 2015 when McLaren’s new engine partnership with Honda kicks in.”

Sebastian Vettel: I can deal with being unpopular but Brits booing me wasn’t fair (Daily Mail)

“I didn’t understand it. I had not done anything to make them do it. I went up on to the stage later for the post-race concert and got booed again. I took my camera out and said, ‘If you are going to boo me at least do it properly’. I tried to make a laugh out of it.”

Sirotkin to start F1 testing soon (Autosport)

Team principal Monisha Kaltenborn: “We are working on putting together the testing programme for him because you are allowed to test with an older car. We have more or less finalised the dates, we just have to look at certain availabilities.”

Mexico will amaze Formula One, says Perez (Reuters)

“I know how good the racetrack is. Obviously they need to rebuild it but there is time enough. I really hope for the good of the sport and my country that it happens.”

Hamilton still unhappy with brakes (ESPN)

“If you look at my brake pressure compared to Nico [Rosberg’s], who’s much more comfortable with it, they’re similar, but if you look over the past seven years my brake pressure was way more than Jenson’s, way more than Heikki [Kovalainen’s] and it was always more than Fernando [Alonso’s]. That’s the different that I see this year but we are just trying to make improvements on it and I am doing the best I can with it.”

Domenicali not ruling out Kimi (Sky)

“Asked in an interview with Sky Sports News reporter Rachel Brookes on Thursday ahead of Ferrari’s home Italian GP if they would consider re-hiring Raikkonen one day, Domenicali replied ‘why not?'”

Q&A with McLaren’s Jenson Button (F1)

“Supposedly Lewis (Hamilton) is the quickest man on the grid, but I scored more points over the three years we were team mates, so I obviously must be doing something right. I don’t analyse it, I just go about my racing the way I feel is correct.”

Marussia F1 team’s computer room damaged by fire (BBC)

“It is thought an electrical fault sparked the blaze in the server room in the early hours.”

Jenson Button says McLaren’s image has changed (The Independent)

“Everyone keeps themselves to themselves, they don’t shout too loud outside the team, but the passion and the fire in people’s bellies here to succeed is as big as anywhere in Formula One.”

F1 race in greater Bangkok is unlawful (Bangkok Post)

Tourism and sports minister Somsak Phurisrisak: “If we can’t find a venue outside greater Bangkok, then the plan should be cancelled.”

Daniel Bruhl: Rush, Niki Lauda and me (The Guardian)

“The first night, [Lauda] was with his wife, and by coincidence [his ex-wife] Marlene was flying into Vienna. He said to me: ‘Well, have dinner with us tonight, my new wife and my ex-wife, and you’re gonna see it’s more explosive than a Formula One race.'”

New heights with Emaar Properties (Lotus)

“Lotus F1 Team welcomes Dubai-based residential and commercial property investment company Emaar Properties to its portfolio of partners, in a new two-year deal commencing from this weekend’s Italian Grand Prix.”

Ferrari at Monza (MotorSport)

“In ’94, [Jean] Alesi, still wearing his overalls, jumped directly aboard an Alfa 164 and roared at unabated speed to his French Riviera home. An emotional man, fuelled by adulatory adrenalin and launched by sudden, disorientating disappointment, he blindly ignored his private jet parked, ready and waiting, at Malpensa.”

In Search of a Grand Prix’s Winning Line (New York Times)

“The best line is so important that should a driver be slightly off line in a corner he can lose a minimum of a tenth of a second, which, when considering there could be a dozen corners or more on a single lap, it can easily add up to the loss of a second per lap.”

Will ‘Rush’ Turn Grand Prix Racing Into America’s New NASCAR? (The Hollywood Reporter)

Circuit of the Americas’ president and CEO Steve Sexton: “Our goal is to educate fans. F1 race cars are like aeroplanes on wheels ? they go from zero to 100 miles per hour in five seconds.”

Italian Grand Prix Betting: Odds cut on Ferrari home win at Monza (Unibet)

My Italian Grand Prix preview for Unibet.

Tweets

Comment of the day

Marsianwalrus likes the look of the draft 2014 F1 calendar:

Looks to me like the best F1 calendar for at least ten years – Mexico (providing they don’t mess with Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez too much) and the Red Bull Ring are both fantastic tracks, and Russia has the potential to be at least good.

Without Bahrain and with New Jersey, the calendar would look perfect, but I’ll take this one all the same.
Marsianwalrus (@Einariliyev)

From the forum

Happy birthday!

Happy birthday to Baldry 888 and Charlie!

If you want a birthday shout-out tell us when yours is by emailling me, using Twitter or adding to the list here.

On this day in F1

Clay Regazzoni took a subdued first grand prix victory at Monza today in 1970, the day after Jochen Rindt had been killed during qualifying:

Here’s the start of the race which was the penultimate running of the race on a chicane-less Monza:

Images © McLaren/Hoch Zwei, Sauber, Marussia

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102 comments on “Button expects to sign new McLaren contract soon”

  1. The Mexico track looks really cool!

  2. next year Kimi gonna be bussy with Ferrari, Mclaren, Lotus, and probably being a third driver for RBR ;)

    1. jajaja good one celeste. Also I’ve hear NASA wants him to drive a est vehicle for mars.

      Now seriously. I think McLaren is looking for Kimi so maybe they want to make a with with Button.

      1. Yeah, I heard they are trying to help him go back home. Kimi is from mars :)

      2. What do they do with Checo (and Carlos Slim dollars)?

        1. +1 I believe Checo has a long term contract

  3. Chris (@tophercheese21)
    6th September 2013, 1:22

    Re: Vettel Booing Article:

    I agree with Seb on this. The booing he received at Silverstone wasn’t good sportsmanship by some of the rowdy fans.

    I think if I were Vettel, then I would only welcome the boos if I had crashed out of my own volition. Because then it’s something I’ve done to deserve it. But the fact that Seb didn’t do anything wrong, his car just gave up on him, and still got booed is not right.

    It’s a bit like applauding when someone double faults in tennis. Is not right.

    1. The booing he received at Silverstone wasn’t good sportsmanship by some of the rowdy fans

      How do you expect fans in Silverstone to react against Vettel (same thing applied to Monza) ???? Silverstone or Monza are not the Crucible theatre, there are people who are fanatical about racing and their preferred teams/drivers even more than we can see with football fans.
      Great sportsman were booed by the fans and it is not a drama, C. Ronaldo has been booed with Man United,Real Madrid and Portugal, Same thing for Messi, Alonso when he retired in the 2006 Italian Gp the tifosi went mad, Hamilton last year was booed when he won in Monza was booed on the podium he said that he is ready to pay for it this year because if he is booed by the tifosi that means that he has won the GP
      I don’t like this kind of victimization to the situation, Vettel has its own contribution for being unpopular in some places, i have seen for example the likes of Alex Del Piero getting a standing ovation in both Old Traford & Santiago Bernabeu or Roger Federer being welcomed in Spain (Nadal’s country) and England …….
      There is a big difference between being a great sportsman and being a great man

      1. Hamilton last year was booed when he won in Monza was booed on the podium

        Sorry that’s a mistake
        Hamilton last year was booed on the podium when he won at Monza

        1. Chris (@tophercheese21)
          6th September 2013, 3:29

          Yeah but anyone who wins in Monza and doesn’t drive for Ferrari gets booed.
          It’s not the same thing.

          1. Anyone who races at Silverstone and is seen to be a poor sport by the British public gets booed.

            It’s exactly the same thing and no more or less acceptable.

      2. Chris (@tophercheese21)
        6th September 2013, 3:20

        I’m not a fan of Vettel, but I respect him enough not to boo him if his race ends not of his own fault.

        If Vettel sticks it in the wall, then yeah, i’d give him a jab, because he did that himself.

        I understand that athletes get booed by passionate fans, (This being one of the best examples), here in Australia, the AFL (Aus Football League) has some of the most disrespectful crowds i’ve ever seen, yelling racist taunts and swearing at players right in their faces. Makes me embarrassed to call myself an Australian when I see it.

        Again, i’ve got nothing against cheering if Seb crashes out from his own mistake, but if it’s not his fault then I dont think it’s entirely right.

        1. boo him if his race ends not of his own fault

          cheering if Seb crashes out from his own mistake

          Is booing and cheering the same?

          As a non-native speaker of English (i.e. I might simply be wrong) I would think those are fundamentally different sounds: one signifying ‘that was ridiculous, you suck’, and the other ‘yippee, the main rival of our boy won’t be in the points’

          The first can be questionable from a fair play point of view (if the driver did nothing wrong); the second is a perfectly natural, spontaneous expression of delight from a dedicated, adrenalin-filled fan.

          Or is everyone disrespectful who cheers when the other team misses a penalty? Should you maintain a reverent silence when your favorite survives a match point in the tennis final thanks to the opponent’s double fault?

      3. just because it happens to a lot of people, in a lot of places, doesn’t make it right.

        I expect fans in silverstone to react as fans of the sport, booing a competitor for being a competitor and doing nothing wrong is wrong. his car stopped, he didnt take someone out, or do anything untoward.

        1. When the Vettel hate gets to this level, he should earn some sympathy.

          1. Does it need to get to that level to ve plain disgusting?

          2. +1000
            I don’t like booing but it’s part of the sport. Also Vettel has forgotten that people started this in Australia. I don’t understand why he cares at all.
            As for these Spanish fans, Hamilton has proven he is in a different league! Even in 2010, Barcelona race when he retired in 2nd (rim failure if i recall ) they all went berserk and laughed…That’s what rivals fans do, just get on with it!

      4. @tifoso1989 I partially agree with you . However , I don’t think he is accusing them . He is just having some genuine regrets that they are not appreciative because British fans are one of the most passionate f1 fans in the world . Maybe , If he changes the way he speaks , instead of elaborating on much of his success during interviews , people might begin to like him more as a person ( but again he believes not to change many things) . But he is one of the future greats as far as his racing talents go .

      5. +1.

        It’s better when fans have passion.

    2. Vettel gets booed in lots of places not just the UK. You hear booing on most of the podiums including Australia, but they do try and filter it out on the TV.

      As to why its happens, I don’t know. I not a fan of Vettel and I can admire his skill but I wouldn’t boo him.

    3. I understand Seb but somehow booing is part of sports. It’s not necessarily disrespect but fans wanted to make a point, just like when Messi is booed at Bernabeu in Madrid.

      Personally I think Seb has done great things on track and nobody can deny his talent, but other things he’s done did not improve his likability, but looks like his success annoys many people.

    4. Grand Prix could do with more of an intense atmosphere among the crowd, if anything they should egged-on by the circuit commentators. I can’t think of many other sports where someone would publically admit that booing upsets them. Like Alan Jones says, “the drivers these days are a bit precious aren’t they.”

      Maybe he should try refereeing a kid’s Sunday league football match, I’m sure a little bit of booing at races wouldn’t bother him after that.

    5. I don’t understand why you’d boo someone for turning up: it’s not a pantomimie, it’s not WWE. Some sports fans seem to forget this though and honestly as a Brit I was quite sad that such an evidently large number of fans (you could here them over the cars) were booing. As @tophercheese21 said, he did nothing wrong – he just did his job. If he’d crashed into Hamilton, I could see them justfying it absolutely but not for breaking down.

    6. I think you can be passionate about sport but still show respect to all competitors, whether you support them or not. In my view it’s ok to cheer momentarily when the opposition retires from the race, whether through his own fault or not, but going on to boo them is just bad sportsmanship. I can understand Vettel getting booed because of Malaysia, but you have to let it go at some point and that point has passed.

      Also, fans booing for no specific reason other than dislike of particular players or teams in other sports doesn’t make it ok for F1 to follow suit.

      1. I xompletely agree with this, booing is unacceptable in any sport

    7. As far as I’m concerned, anyone booing the way the British fans cheered when Vettel had his engine failure at Silverstone fundamentally don’t understand the principals of sport: the most basic principal being fair competition. I described it as scummy behaviour. And I think I was being polite. Booing Vettel (or anyone) for winning is the same behaviour.

      What bothers me more is that it’s prevalent in a lot of sports and most countries. And it seems be becoming more prevalent. It’s nothing more than ugly tribalism. With the emphasis on the ugly.

      There are plenty cases where, in my view, it is warranted. If any Mark Webber fans watched Vettel overtake him in Singapore, that would be much more justified – it wasn’t just an overtake; it was an overtake that can be construed as unfair. But booing someone simply because they’ve done better than your hero is disrespectful to the sport and everyone involved in the sport – including the person you’re supporting.

      1. Tribalism might be scummy and ugly but it is predominantly exciting and thoroughly entertaining, that’s why it is so prevalent.

        When spectators pay around £160 just to get through the gates into Silverstone they are entitled to have as much fun as possible, if that involves a bit of pantomime booing then so be it. I don’t understand why F1 fans are expected to be so meek and boring.

        1. Well, you can be a great and passionate fan and not boo the people you don’t like

        2. Well then Jack perhaps tribalism should be left back on the terraces then mate…

        3. @jackisthestig

          I don’t understand why F1 fans are expected to be so meek and boring.

          No one is saying they should be – that’s a complete exaggeration. But this unprovoked booing and jeering is simply bullying. Approving of one team or driver does not mean you have to hate the rest. It’s disgusting and moronic, it’s like something you would see at a football match, and those who do it should be ashamed of themselves.

        4. @jackisthestig I can understand crashes being exciting, as that evokes fear through the surprise. Breaking down though and cheering? I don’t understand why that is exciting. If you want to boo, as I said before watch a pantomime or WWE. Otherwise, keep F1 a “gentleman’s” sport and just appreciate the racing.

  4. ‘If you are going to boo me at least do it properly’. I tried to make a laugh out of it.”

    A young German teaching a British crowd some proper humor and professionalism is an instance of irony personified as it is usually the latter who rave about their quality of humor .
    Way to go Vettel .

    PS: I don’t like Vettel all that much but I won’t boo him if he gets onto the podium. That’s more like a 6 year old beating another boy who got the ice cream.

  5. “Supposedly Lewis (Hamilton) is the quickest man on the grid, but I scored more points over the three years we were team mates, so I obviously must be doing something right. I don’t analyse it, I just go about my racing the way I feel is correct.”.

    Maybe because English it’s not my mother language I’m understanding this the wrong way.

    Only in 2011 Button scored more points than Hamilton . Hamilton finished 2nd 2010 championship .2011. 5th (Button 2nd) and 2012 4th (Button 5th).

    So Button is looking other statics like pit stops or less incidents or I don’t know but he didn’t score more points than Hamilton.

    1. @camo8723 I think what he means is that he beat Lewis over total points tally cumulative for all the three years . I think the difference was around 3-10 pts , I don’t know exactly . Of course he did not mean it in a negative way but I don’t know why Button considers it an achievement to mention it . He is right in a way though , he is a smart thinker as far as points are concerned . A bit of a Prost – his own idol.

    2. Chris (@tophercheese21)
      6th September 2013, 3:23

      He’s saying that from the time he and Lewis spent at McLaren together, he outscored him overall.

      To be fair, Lewis absolutely destroyed Jenson last year, had it not been for his car’s reliability issues, it would have been a FAR more convincing win for Lewis.

      1. Exactly. He actually handed everyone a schooling on the Abu dhabi Qualifying . Unfortunately , it all came to ashes .

      2. Last year.. heck .. if it wasn’t for reliability issues in 2010, Lewis would have destroyed him in that year as well.

        I dislike Button for this very reason. He will take a lot of pride in mentioning that he matched Hamilton at his time in Mclaren, when the fact is that he got destroyed every in almost every qualifying session and every sunday race when circumstances were normal.

        The only time I ever remember Button beating Hamilton was under changing conditions, lucky strategic calls or when Lewis retired/was taken out from the race. When it came to mechanical gremlins.. Hamilton had the monsters share of them

        2011 was an exceptionally poor year for Hamilton and an exceptionally strong one from Jenson, but even then, Hamilton got the same number of race wins as Jenson and he still managed to out qualify him comfortably.

        Pretty typical stuff from Jenson, mention half the truth to save his face. For anyone who was watching f1 during that time, knew that Jenson wasn’t half the driver Hamilton was.

    3. the issue is the definition of quick, quick over a lap, quick over the race, or quick over the season.

      button is consistent, hamilton is fast. button will finish more races in points day in and day out, hamilton will be more aggressive and risk taking and end up not finishing at times. they both find the most points in different ways.

      button’s a marathon competitor, he understands how to manage a race, pacing yourself and planning when and how to do things. he scores points and wins with strategy and speed at the right time.

      hamilton is a sprinter, he attacks as hard as he can, as much as he can, and wins by getting in front as soon as possible, and then working to stay there. he scores points by constantly fighting for a higher position.

      IMO they are fairly equally matched, it all depends on the race day, weather, other drivers, track and many other influences as to how each’s style and strategy will play out.

      hamiltons WDC came by glock being on the wrong tires and falling of the track, at the last corner, on the last lap, of the last race in the year, winning the WDC by 1 point while his competitor won the race. being as super aggressive as he is has a lot of risks.

      buttons WDC came by maximizing what he had while he had it, knowing the field will catch up (technology wise), and then when they did, then just consistently scoring points to mitigate the loss of his point lead.

      buttons throws less points away than hamilton, but hamilton can sprint faster. equally impressive.

      1. +1 Thanks @foxxx and @hamilfan your explanations help me a lot. Both of them are great drivers

      2. Thing is, Lewis can acquire Button’s talent with experience, Button can’t do same with the speed.

        1. I disagree. @kimi4wdc

          button can find speed by looking at the data and being more aggressive.

          there’s plenty of very experienced racers who still can’t match buttons analytical thinking. it’s more than knowledge and experience, it’s a mindset and thought process.

          hamilton’s a poor child come rich, he’s enjoying the celebrity lifestyle and his new found wealth, he’s more focused on lifestyle and fame than working on his mind and methods of thinking. his weekends are lifestyle, playing with his dog and enjoying life.

          changing your thought process isn’t simple, it takes years of methodical thinking. On and off track. button lives that thought process, his weekends are spent racing in conditions that require smarter thinking more than ‘talent’ (marathons), he spends his time working out how much energy he has left, what stages are left, how to use his energy now and how much he needs for a swimming stage later, how much he needs to reserve now to take on swimming, then be able to push through a final bike stage. all depending on position in the race, power of who he’s racing and where they are in the race compared to him.

          there’s more to it than that, but just an example.

          button has spent probably 20 years with a methodical thought process geared towards the long term, the marathon race (in f1 and in marathons).

          that’s not something you get with driving experience. you may read a weather situation better after 10 years of f1, but you wont have the thought process that’ll help you make the right decision, for the overall race when you need it.

          1. hamilton’s a poor child come rich, he’s enjoying the celebrity lifestyle and his new found wealth, he’s more focused on lifestyle and fame than working on his mind and methods of thinking. his weekends are lifestyle, playing with his dog and enjoying life.

            Wow. You must be watching a different season.

            One can have a life and still be didicated to work and perform well. I remember watching NBA TV’s Dream Team documentary and they all said that Michael Jordan was so active that he was the hardest in the gym and outside it. He would spend 6 hours training and 6 hours playing golf. On the other hand, the great Larry Bird, as per Patrick Ewing was the person who sipped more beers he’d ever seen but aging, that aging forward was a phenomenal athlete with undeniable work ethics and skills.

            Vettel on Lewis:

            think it is important to be who I am. The moment you try to be someone else it backfires. If someone, Lewis for example, likes to live a certain life, in the celebrity world, it is the best way he will recover, strange as it sounds. It probably allows him to perform at his optimum

          2. @jcost how am i watching a different season based on your quote on my comment?

            he does take his dog everywhere, he does go out, he does live the lifestyle of the rich and famous, i follow his twitter and other bits. he brags about his massive gym and the morning views in monaco. i’m not saying he’s out ****** up and drunk every weekend, i’m saying when he’s away from the track he’s focused on his lifestyle. golf, dog, gym, beach, etc.

            August 10 “Lewis flew to Santa Monica in California by private jet to woo Nicole by renting out a picturesque beach house, clearing out all furniture except for a table for two.”

            **** like that. doesnt mean he’s not focused every race weekend and not hitting the gym hard, i’m just comparing his off time activities to button, who spends it doing maratons and doing things that are exercised in mental challenges and that cause button to constantly think in an analytical way compared to hamilton.

            hamilton doesnt do that. he may work hard in the gym, and i dont doubt he doesn’t but his hobbies are things that make him think the same way button would.

            I agree with what vettel says about lewis. just because he lives that life doesnt make him slow, by living a happy and fulfilling life you are motivated, confident and all the rest. my pure argument was on how button thinks and problems solves in the moment, his thought processes are bound to be different to lewises because of what he does.

          3. If Button can find speed by analysing data, then how come he hasn’t found it so far? Only drivers with natural inhetent speed can “find” it. Button has his strengths, but speed is not one of them.

          4. @Todd –

            changing your thought process isn’t simple, it takes years of methodical thinking.

            Totally disagree with this statement. trying to acquire a talent you don’t have (natural speed), is inherently far more difficult than changing your thought process. In fact, changing behaviour and the way you think is far more easier than people think; if certain procedures are followed. I have just embarked on a career as a NLP Parctictioner and Life Coach, and this is exactly what i teach people to do.
            If you read Strengths Finder book, it lists quite a few examples of people who train extremely had to acquire a talen they they are not naturally blessed with; and how, no matter how had they train, will never never be as good as people who are blessed with the talent, but also train to develop it. People like Lewis, Vettel, and Kimi are certainly blessed with natural speed. If it wass that easy to acquire by simply looking at data, then every F1 driver, or at least their team mates would have it.

            Button certainly thinks more, bu this is because he knows he has to make up the shortfall of speed he does not have. Nothing wrng with this, as you have to maximise what you have. Add to this that McLaren are also aware of this shortfall; hence the many favourable strategy calls they gave him, which in my opinion makes him look better that he really is.

          5. @foxxx

            You’re watching a different season because his “pop star life” and dog don’t seem to be harming his performance. If he can live the way he lives and still deliver, what’s wrong? That’s why I quoted Vettel, people’s balance vary. One doesn’t need to hide in country estate in the middle of a forrest to focus in Formula 1. He has time to train, study circuits, work with his team and spend some quality time with relatives, friends and dog.

            Ayrton Senna dated a handful of Brazilian celebrities and loved to have fun but he still was a great racing driver.

            As I said before, IMHO, with all due respect, Jenson Button is not as good as Lewis. JB can flip the stats card but I don’t buy it because it’s not that linear, just look at the amount of problems Hamilton had last year, most (or none) of his own making.

            Disclaimer
            I’m a Lewis Hamilton fan and Button not making my top 5 drivers list of current grid has nothing to do with personal issues, I think he’s a good chap but his all-around skills are a F1 driver do not meet my 5 stars rate

          6. Firstly Lifestyle: Hamilton is 5 years younger than Button. If you do a web search you will see that Button was known as the playboy of the paddock. He was known for his partying lifestyle. He completely trumps Hamilton in this regard. Also Hamilton is way more open than Button, therefore you have less idea about what Button (and most other drivers) are doing because they are more private. You are comparing what you know of Hamilton, to what you don’t know about everyone else..

            Button Quote –

            ‘As for being a playboy, I was a young guy who enjoyed letting his hair down. I had a lot of fun around that time but I wouldn’t say it ever got out of hand. I still like to have fun but it’s safer to party behind closed doors.

            Points Score. Button beat Hamilton over 3 years, yes. This however does not prove how more consistent Button is at all. To do that you would have to consider all retirements or position drops each person had due to team fault / machinery fault (not their own). Then you would have to project what the outcome would have been without those faults. It is like saying Webber is less consistent than Vettel because his car keeps breaking, or that he is more aggressive than Vettel because his car keeps breaking. < Both of these statements are pure nonsense. Using statistics incorrectly is akin to lying. Championship points are effected by events outside a drivers control, but in every meaningful way Hamilton outperforms Button.

            Button can find speed by looking at the data and being more aggressive.

            – Unfounded Opinion. Where is evidence of this? Isn’t this what ALL drivers do? He even says in the F1 article above that he will never break late or beat his car around so the aggressive part is just untrue.

            he’s more focused on lifestyle and fame than working on his mind and methods of thinking.

            – Opinion. You have no idea of Hamilton’s training, mental or otherwise.

            Button has spent probably 20 years with a methodical thought process geared towards the long term,

            – Even through his self-confessed partying days? OK. Oh quick Google search, he started triathlons in 2007, just after he “decided to get serious” about driving. Cant see him being methodical about a driving career he himself says he wasn’t taking seriously.

            I’m writing this to make you aware that you have preconceived ideas about who Button and Hamilton are that are mirrored in their PR / lack of PR respectively (go figure). Button wants you to believe that he is the smooth driving, changing conditions expert and intelligent figure. Hamilton simply wants you to think he’s cool. This fully explains your respect for Button and contempt for Hamilton

            Unless a driver is failing on track (neither of them currently are), questioning their lifestyle and wants is a pointless undertaking, as it is simply a baseless opinion.

          7. @kbdavies

            Add to this that McLaren are also aware of this shortfall; hence the many favourable strategy calls they gave him

            What utter garbage. There is no evidence McLaren did anything like this, there’s no logical reason why they would and of course Hamilton would not have kept quiet about it if they did – especially now he drives for another team.

      3. A very good analysis. Many F1 fans love the people with the purest speed. Some of us love the thinkers and strategists more. Each style is different, but as @foxxx points out, each can be equally effective.

      4. @foxxx

        hamiltons WDC came by glock being on the wrong tires and falling of the track, at the last corner, on the last lap, of the last race in the year, winning the WDC by 1 point while his competitor won the race. being as super aggressive as he is has a lot of risks.

        This is not correct. Glock got himself in front of Lewis and Vettel because he opted for those tyres but when things changed he lost out, it’s not like Glock overtook Hamilton (like Vettel did) on merit.

        One should argue that Lewis is not 2 times WDC because Massa handed P1 to Kimi in Brazil back in 2007…

        Plus, IMHO, overall, Lewis Hamilton is a better driver than Jenson Button. Period.

      5. @foxxx @hamilfan @camo8723

        Hamilton’s WDC came by Glock being on the wrong tyres and falling of the track

        This is both inaccurate and untrue.

        Firstly, Glock never “fell off the track”.

        Secondly. Glock’s choice of tyres took a position off Hamilton to begin with, so claiming Hamilton gained a position through Glock not changing tyres is incorrect:

        https://www.racefans.net/2008/11/04/2008-brazilian-grand-prix-analysis/

        1. sorry for the simplification, glock took hamilton by tire choice. his strategy failed, he lost traction and lost the racing line. my simplification of falling of the track, i’m not arguing how he won a wdc or whatever, i’m pushing a point on driver styles.

          there was strategy in play, glock chose the tires thinking they would stick they didn’t, hamilton chose his tries thinking they would stick, they did.

          both strategies almost went the other respective ways. hamiltons strategy almost failed, glocks almost worked. if glock could find 20% more traction he probably would have retained the position (by getting to the line in a shorter amount of time). if hamilton had 20% less he might not have succeeded (same but reversed).

          hamilton still gained a position passing glock. every pass is a position gained. it’s not a net gain, but on a pass to pass basis, it’s a position gain based on where you currently are. glock passed hamilton, hamilton passed glock, it’s not as if hamilton was defacto in glocks position regardless, he had to make the pass. he had to gain the position to fail.

          hamilton did gain a position, glock was one place ahead. the position had to be gained somehow. hamilton did gain a position on glock, on the last lap, hamilton passed glock, that’s a position gained from where he was the lap before. it’s not a net gain overall.

          “Secondly. Glock’s choice of tyres took a position off Hamilton to begin with, so claiming Hamilton gained a position through Glock not changing tyres is incorrect:”

          that’s like saying, hamilton started 2nd, spun, was 22nd, then worked his way back, and finished 1st. he only gained 1 position. sure, in a net overall race perspective. but on a lap per lap basis. every lap he would have gained and lost positions.

          i’m sure you understand what i’m saying, maybe we’re mixing terminologies?

        2. @foxxx Saying that Hamilton won the world championship because Glock was on the “wrong” tyres is incorrect: If Glock had been on the other tyres he wouldn’t have been in front of Hamilton to begin with (because he would have pitted like Hamilton and most other drivers did) and Hamilton would have won the championship anyway.

          Trying to reduce Hamilton’s entire championship success to a single incident on a single lap, ignoring not just the circumstances of his strategy and Glock’s but everything that went before as well, is transparent attempt to diminish his achievement and deprive him of the credit he deserves.

          1. @keithcollantine But that assumes the definition if wrong. he took the chance to use the tyres and it could have paid off, but it didn’t, glock a few dry patches away from making it work. ~500 meters difference.

            It was wrong in hindsight, it didn’t work out, but a few laps earlier, it looked like it might work. It was right at the time, when there was a no definitive right option.

            I think you’re too defensive of hamilton, i’m not throwing what he accomplished out the window, i stand by what i said, if glock had some more dry track hamilton would have not have a WDC — but not through any major fault of his own. just weather and traction.

            you dont win a WDC until you cross the line, and he almost crossed it behind glock.

            hamilton took the risk to race vettel on strategy, he lost to vettel but him or the team didn’t or may not have expected others not to pit and beat them to the line, or they may have and decided the conditions were better for their tires, and they took that risk and went for it. it only paid off, on the last lap, last corner.

            we can argue all day long about points won and lost throughout the whole season, massa was leading in hungary with only a handful of laps to go when his engine gave up. there’s more than one way hamilton could have lost the wdc.

            my whole point of my original argument that i dont want to stray from is that hamilton is an aggressive driver who takes risks and buttons isn’t like that, but he is pretty much just as good as a performer.

          2. @foxxx I’m not trying to “defend” anyone – I’m stating what the facts are. Given the facts of that race, you cannot concoct any way of justifying your claim that Hamilton won the title because of what Glock did. It many have looked dramatic at the time, but Glock’s actions were ultimately irrelevant to Hamilton’s outcome.

          3. @foxxx

            I recall when Vettel passed Lewis and Massa was virtual world champion McLaren told him via radio that Glock was slow and he would pass him before the line.

        3. I fell I opened Pandora’s box. But thanks @keithcollantine sometimes some arguments are very persuasive.The facts are the facts. So, the quotation from Button is not very accurate?

      6. Absolute nonsense, an insult if you even like. Back in 2008 Hamilton was hampered by the FIA and your whole argument about Hamilton winning by 1 point is rubbish as well, Massa was gifted Hamilton victory point in Spa that year and rammed of the track in Japan by Massa as well. Button will never be on Hamilton level, try to be less biased.

    4. Well, Button said “I don’t analyse it”. That’s his problem. If you analyse it, then it becomes obvious that Lewis had some really bad luck along the way, but he was much faster, both in qualifying and in most of the races.

      1. Exactly.

        Poor (and cringe worthy) attempt by Button to try to make it the situation look better than it actually was. If he does analyse it, Hamilton obliterated him last year and even 2011 only looked closer than it did because of the love-in with Massa.

      2. Ultimately none of those things are relevant though. It’s points that win championships, not speculation on what could have been.

  6. Am i the only one who thinks Vettel likes to take a dig at other driver’s personalities? his comments about other drivers seems to imply that indirectly..
    ” Lewis lives in the city( Monaco) and parties but I dont judge him” Why does he need to mention that…
    Similarly when asked about Alonso to Redbull rumors he said ” i would rather have Kimi because he is a straight forward guy like me” seems to me an indirect way of saying Alonso is not a straight forward guy ( Alonso may not be but Vettel does not need to say that IMO,)… I could be totally wrong here and I don’t hide the fact that I am not a Vettel fan … but whenever I see or read his views on Alonso or Hamilton I get this feeling …

    1. ” i would rather have Kimi because he is a straight forward guy like me”

      He never said that … His words were ‘I’d rather have Kimi!” and the he explained that he has a better relationship with him than with Alonso.
      Also, Vettel said:

      Lewis for example, likes to live a certain life, in the celebrity world, it is the best way he will recover, strange as it sounds. It probably allows him to perform at his optimum

      So he kinda approves Lewis lifestyle

      1. Vettel says “do your own thing”

  7. sad to hear about marussia’s spectrum getting damaged in a fire….

    1. …at least it wasn’t the trophy room.

      1. Ba-dum-tss!

  8. And could Michael Schumacher, supposedly an unemotional man, have made his retirement-in-victory speech of 2006 at anywhere other than the track where he broke down in tears during a 2000 press conference? No.

    Wow. Time has wings, it was 2000? Somehow I miss those boring GPs dominated by Schumi in his Byrne designed machine, with Todt and Brawn running the business…

    1. @jcost

      Wow. Time has wings

      Just goes to show that even in 2006, the Red Bull team were meant to dominate!
      (Really hoping people get the reference..)

  9. You reap what you sow, Seb. Nicking the win in Malaysia might have been the sensible thing to do from a racer’s perspective, but it didn’t endear you to a lot of people. Some of those people might now boo you. If I was so sure of my actions, I wouldn’t let it get to me.

    Sometimes Vettel reminds me of Schumacher, and his barefaced “Not me, guv” attitude whenever he was confronted about his indiscretions (vs Hill, Villeneuve, the Monaco barriers etc.) Never admitting wrongdoing, always searching for someone else to blame. Fine, but don’t act surprised when people treat you like a villain.

    1. Ok, I understand that his race in Malaysia didn’t gain him any supporters, but let’s be honest here. There are drivers on the grid who have done much worse than Vettel and they aren’t being booed every time they do something.
      Malaysia means nothing, I’m sure many of the people who boo Vettel already forgot about that episode. People just don’t like that he is winning all the time, that’s it. Booing for that is not fair.

      Besides, Vettel has never said that he was upset about the booing, he doesn’t like it, which is normal.

      1. Success breeds contempt.

    2. In case of Vettel, IMHO, it’s a mix of things: (i) his not so nice actions and (ii) his success in a superior car will always get people questioning skills.

      But he can’t expect cheers after Malaysia, just like Luis Suarez will not be cheered in many venues of EPL…

      1. @jcost Oh please don’t even start to compare what Vettel did to Suarez’s actions. What Suarez did would have not been acceptable in any civilised society.

        1. @wsrgo not comparing his actions but people’s reactions. two different things mate.

    3. @red-andy Anyone who uses Malaysia as an excuse to boo Vettel doesn’t belong at the side of a race track. His were the actions of a committed driver, a real racer to his fingertips. He saw a chance to win and he took it. That’s the way it should be.

      He wasn’t going to let Horner get in his way of winning any more than Webber was going to be kept from trying to pass Vettel at Silverstone two years ago (in exactly the same circumstances – and I don’t see him getting booed).

      The more Vettel gets booed, the more I’d like to see him win the championship by six points to ram home the message that a proper racing driver does not leave a point on the table they can take for themselves.

      1. @keithcollantine +1, and +1 again.

        I really did not understand the massive uproar against Vettel in that case, yet the case being made against Mercedes for using team orders. It seemed nothing short of hypocrisy to me.

        Racing drivers want to win. Ayrton Senna famously said “being second is to be the first of the ones who lose“, which could not be a better indication of a racing driver’s mentality. Put simply, you must take every opportunity you can get to win, otherwise you will not win championships. And at the end of the day, despite what the teams like us to believe, most people watch F1 for the driver’s championship. Therefore, the drivers are more important to the sport, so why on earth should they be prevented from doing their jobs?

      2. [in Malaysia] His were the actions of a committed driver, a real racer to his fingertips. He saw a chance to win and he took it. That’s the way it should be.

        @keithcollantine I still disagree with you here, but I think it’s a matter of how you define the perfect racing driver. If you define it as a driver with a winning mentality, as in everything is allowed to take the race win, then you end up with the Sennas, Schumachers, Alonsos and Vettels of this world.

        I would rather define it as a driver that wants to prove he is the best, but more importantly respects all his competitors and the team. In my opinion, what Vettel did in Malaysia (or Webber in Silverstone for that matter) didn’t show that: what does ignoring team orders prove about his driving ability? I want to see respect.

  10. Can someone do me a huge favour and phone the Mexican government and arrange for Hermann Tilke to be barred from the country? Cheers.

  11. It’s a sad day indeed when F1 ‘fans’ are defending their behaviour based on football supporters. If you follow that logic then it’s perfectly acceptable not only to boo people, but to spit on them, throw missiles at them, rush out and physically assault them, and make racist comments toward them. Not to mention causing riots and attacking rival supporters. Football fans are among the worst examples when you’re trying to judge acceptable standards of behaviour.

    People should be enjoying the spectacle of one of the most successful racers ever to sit in an F1 car at the absolute height of his ability, driving great racing cars. Let’s not forget, they’re an independent team as well that carries the DNA of the old Stuart GP team in its veins. How many people here would defend people booing Senna? It reflects on the booers in the absolute worst possible way; people who have no interest whatsoever in celebrating skill and success – the pinnacle which all teams and drivers aspire to – but turn the whole sport into some sort of pathetic x-factor style popularity contest.

    Why not look instead to the world of track and field, where fans support their favourite athletes but also applaud and cheer whoever wins – because they appreciate the difficulty and the skill involved in being successful at the absolute highest level. Are these not the value we want to see protected in the sport which we love?

    1. Daniel (@collettdumbletonhall)
      6th September 2013, 18:14

      +1

    2. @mazdachris
      CotD. Booing is childish and unsporting and I’m embarrassed to be associated with them as an F1 fan.

    3. Can only add a +1 to that.

    4. Part of the reason is because “fans” of motorsport hate dominance.

      Jimmie Johnson won five consecutive titles in an era when the title fight is engineered to be a lottery. Fans boo him mercilessly in 2013, because how dare somebody win five straight titles in a series built around parity. The epidemic isn’t just an F1 thing.

      When Sebastian Bourdais was winning four consecutive Champ Car titles, everyone on Crapwagon and other Champ Car fan communities complained because it wasn’t an “outspoken, brazen rebel” like Paul Tracy, it was some “boring French guy”.

      When Sebastien Loeb won nine straight titles, fans of WRC claimed he murdered the sport and drove the manufacturers out. We still look back to Michael Schumacher’s five straight titles with Ferrari as a “dark age” of boring races and somebody only winning because he had the best car. And you know what? I was guilty of it myself. I’m sure if we were having a debate about whether or not it was okay to boo drivers in 2002, in particular MSC – if we were really honest with ourselves, would we really say anything other than “yes, it’s okay to jeer as loud as you want”?

      And then Toby Moody just wrote an article about Marc Marquez’ prospective dominance and how it could drive MotoGP into a dark age. How would Giacomo Agostini’s run of perfect seasons be recieved by today’s fans? Do you think we’d have trolls complaining about how Jim Clark only wins races because he drives for Lotus back in the ’60s?

      I worry sometimes, because if fans resort to booing people that win a lot just because they win a lot, if they’ll resort to wearing blackface and making monkey chants at a driver like Lewis Hamilton, I could only shudder to think how tasteless the reaction would be if a driver like Grosjean or Maldonado or Cecotto in GP2 gets in yet another accident and doesn’t get out of the car under his own power. Then again, Schumacher’s broken foot was met with thunderous applause from a British GP crowd that’s usually praised as the best audience in motorsport.

      I’m so glad I grew out of this line of thinking.

  12. Jenson, Jenson… even acknowledging the dnfs from both sides of garage Lewis would have still finished ahead! Gloating because he’s scored more points in 3 seasons together. You were telling us that 2013 would be yours and that your input would result in McLaren engineers building a great car… What happened since then? Lewis + Mercedes got poles and a win, the former are lagging behind in the WDC standings.
    Not that F1 drivers can design the cars… Obviously Jenson you’re not analyzing it, everything is fine for this season!
    It’s past now anyway…

  13. Daniel (@collettdumbletonhall)
    6th September 2013, 18:12

    I don’t think I’ll ever understand why people don’t like Vettel so much that they boo him. He seems like a really nice guy, fairly standard in post-race interviews but he wins a lot, is that it?

  14. If Vettel is confused by the way those fans treated him, then perhaps he should consider the way he presents himself. People believe that Red Bull have mistreated their drivers for the sake if Vettel’s success. Whether or not this actually happens is irrelevant; the fact that people rightly or wrongly believe that it happens is the important point. What has Vettel done to dispel this belief? When has he ever come out and supported his team-mates? Nothing. He hasn’t lifted a finger to help them out. In fact, he has often done the opposite. People might look at his behaviour in Malaysia and say “well, that just shows that he’s a real racing driver”, and maybe that’s true, but it also makes him a pretty unlikeable person – the number of people who criticised him for it is proof of as much.

    Vettel doesn’t seem to realise that people will respect him for more than just his driving ability. They will respect the man underneath. Why do people like Webber and Button so much, even if they aren’t the fastest drivers on the grid? It’s because you could have a beer with them after a race, talk about anything and everything except racing, and have a pretty good time. But I think that for a lot of people, Vettel fails the beer test.

    1. Except Webber is as much as two faces as Vettel. No point complaining

    2. It’s because you could have a beer with them after a race, talk about anything and everything except racing, and have a pretty good time. But I think that for a lot of people, Vettel fails the beer test.

      People like Hamilton, and I’m pretty sure he’d be fairly terrible in a pub…

      I’d disagree with you there anyway: I think Vettel would be one you could have a beer with comfortably, as with Jenson, but Mark would be the heavily drunk one getting into fights. He strikes me as that type of person.

      That just serves to prove that test is far from universal.

      When has he ever come out and supported his team-mates? Nothing. He hasn’t lifted a finger to help them out.

      When the hell has Webber‽

      but it also makes him a pretty unlikeable person

      I don’t know about you, but I hate people who just unquestionably follow orders that go against public interest.

      1. @vettel1 – Webber hasn’t done it because Vettel has the better relationship with the team Turkey 2010 is a prime example of this: Vettel caused the crash, but the team pinned it on Webber. Where was Vettel taking responsibility for the collusion? He was nowhere to be seen.

      2. @Vettel1

        I don’t agree with the original comment from @prisoner-monkeys.. though your comment on Hamilton and Webber is very unfair to say the least.. I dont know how can you be so sure that Hamilton will be fairly terrible in a pub or mark webber will get into fights after getting drunk… I think passing judgements on people without knowing how they are in their personal life is “fairly terrible”… Apart from this I agree with you on the other points…

        1. @puneethvb

          That just serves to prove that test is far from universal.

          That was the main aspect of that particular point I should clarify – since that would be my personal immediate assumption and it differs quite significantly from Prisoner Monkey’s, it completely rubbishes his point. It is far too subjective.

    3. @prisoner-monkeys Webber is one of the biggest hypocrites on the F1 grid. And he uses his ‘good man’ image to project a persona to the media of the gritty Aussie fighting against the tyranny of an Austria-German faction.
      As for Vettel, ‘failing the beer test’? Could you have a beer with Alonso or Hamilton either, or even Raikkonen for that matter? Yet, the three drivers I just mentioned aren’t hated as much as Vettel. This ‘beer test’ is nothing but nonsense.
      I remember reading James Allen’s book ‘The Edge of Greatness’, a Michael Schumacher biography, and I wondered at how many instances, Webber’s professional opinion of Schumacher has come to the fore. I understand Coulthard, Irvine, Barrichello etc. saying what they said, because they raced with Michael as contemporaries, but Webber? The way he’s spoken about Schumacher, a stranger to F1 would (if he read the book) think that Webber was probably Schumi’s biggest rival. And yet, we know that’s not the case. In fact, Webber had things to say of Schumacher in his very first race. When Schumacher came to talk to Webber after the latter’s superb debut race at Melbourne 2002, and pose with him for pictures, Webber’s thoughts were ‘I don’t know who this bloke from Adam is’, and then proceeded to say to Allen that Schumacher was trying to take advantage of Webber’s publicity. All these thoughts, when he is just new to the whole to F1.
      As for Button, I don’t have much against him. He does have opinions about a lot of things, but overall, I believe he is pretty much a down-to-earth guy.
      If you saw most of the anti-Vettel comments, as an F1 fan, you’d be cringing in disgust. Most of them are xenophobic in nature, with the N-word being used several times. This is unacceptable.

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