Button at McLaren

[phil1993]

Jenson Button at McLaren.
#05 | 27th January 2010

Look whose career has gone a full circle...

12 years after his first outing with McLaren (testing in 1998), the reigning world champion returns to Woking to partner 2008 World Champion Lewis Hamilton. So for a man with fewer wins, fewer poles and largely seen as having lucked into a title, can he upset the order at McLaren and beat their golden boy? This is a year that will either see Jenson Button as a good driver or see him go down in the history books as a great.
The first point that comes to note is the age gap. Jenson Button is 30 next week and Lewis Hamilton turned 25 yesterday (January 7th). This works both ways: Button has more experience but Hamilton still has bags of youth and both are extremely fit drivers. However, the age gap is only five years but Button has 7 more seasons of Formula One racing and he has driven a lot of different cars in terms of how they perform. But Hamilton can drive anything and he’ll drive the wheels off of it.

The next point is the relationship with the team: Button has to learn to work with a new group of people. Something which, after driving with 2 teams in 3 years from 2000 to 2002, he has not changed teams since moving from Renault to BAR in the winter of 2002/3. Whilst the team changed from BAR to Honda and eventually Brawn, the people, on the whole, stayed the same. Now he has new faces, a new environment and he has to get them on his side, he has to get them to like him. He will be aware of the kind of treatment that has been suggested by observers in terms of how McLaren treat their “Number Two” – for example, David Coulthard and Heikki Kovalainen. Whilst McLaren will maintain that the pair are equal number ones, two into one doesn’t go and McLaren, with the Prost/Senna and Hamilton/Alonso partnerships, will be able to tell you that first hand. Although Button won’t take being subservient to Hamilton like Kovalainen did, if Hamilton gets off to a flyer and he slips a few points behind (a bit like in 2007), then he will struggle to be given any favours from within the team. If he can gain the upper hand then seeing how McLaren deal with the situation would certainly be intriguing.

The new regulations have also made the Hamilton-Button partnership more mouth watering in terms of their driving styles and the effect, with very heavy fuel loads, this has on tyres. Hamilton favours an aggressive style which usually has a harsher effect on the tyres, as seen predominantly in Turkey, where Hamilton tends to go for a 3 stop strategy. Mr. Smooth Button can manage his tyres so well that when the tyres get extremely hot or at high abrasive tracks – Turkey, Valencia and Bahrain come to mind – then he might hold the upper hand. However, it has been said that tyre wear may not have a big enough advantage to Button. It could have a disadvantage for him as well as Hamilton’s attacking nature during qualifying and his ability to nail a quick lap at the end of Q3, means that Button could struggle on Saturdays as he so often did in the latter part of his title winning year.

People say that Button is an undeserving champion – which is just rubbish. Yes, he got lucky with the car, but he took advantage of the situation and did what he needed to do when he needed to do it. After all, he won the most races. Flip the season on its head and Button would be regarded as a hero.

Their Button-Hamilton partnership is also intriguing from a British point of view as to which driver will be supported. Before 2006 it was pro-Button but since 2007, Hamilton supporters have increased rapidly. The Button supporters returned in 2009 and now with two top Brits, will the fans choose or will it be a case of ‘I like both of them’. I have cases for both sides: Button is such a smooth driver and a great overtaker. But Hamilton is a great overtake artist as well and does it with such flare and aggression. And he goes for it when all hope is lost. That is the hallmarks of a great driver. Jenson can do that too though.

So, what will happen with Jenson at McLaren? He’ll get beaten by Hamilton but he won’t embarrass himself whatsoever. A few wins in 2010 might lead to a championship charge and the constructor’s title for the team. But McLaren don’t tolerate failure and they have plenty of young guns in the wings. He’ll last longer than Fernando Alonso and he will see out his contract, but if anyone leaves the team, it won’t be Hamilton. Hamilton is playing the psychological game saying ‘I am the number 2’ – firmly putting the pressure on Jenson Button to lead the team. Something which he knows is his job. McLaren’s determination to see equal status has even lead to a reshuffling of its engineering crews.
Whatever happens in 2010, it might just be a case of ‘anything you can do, I can do better’.

Next week: Red Bull: From Partyboys to Pacesetters
May not be posted until Saturday 6th February

[megasyxx]

i think button's mclaren tenure will do ok.....no in-fights as before, if ever he will leave mclaren it will be because of poor performance (by him) or lack of motivation, on the way to retirement.

[sdutt]

i think button's mclaren tenure will do ok.....no in-fights as before, if ever he will leave mclaren it will be because of poor performance (by him) or lack of motivation, on the way to retirement.

unless he stays for atleast 3 years, i doubt that he will retire after Mclaren

[JoostLamers]

I will read it this weekend Phil, I'm so busy with school; got 2 presentations, had 1 today and have 1 this friday.. Damn; I hate this business.. But I just want you to know I'm really interested in your articles

[cformula1]

Yet another great article, I didn't get around to reading last weeks one, and I agree wholeheartedly that if Button was to have won it all in the second half of the season, he'd be considered the best thing since sliced bread. But instead, conveniently forgetting the whole of the first half of the season, many people have bashed Button for the struggling second half. I reckon Hamilton will be quicker, but Button won't be far behind and will be also more consistent.

[sdutt]

Their Button-Hamilton partnership is also intriguing from a British point of view as to which driver will be supported. Before 2006 it was pro-Button but since 2007, Hamilton supporters have increased rapidly. The Button supporters returned in 2009 and now with two top Brits, will the fans choose or will it be a case of ‘I like both of them’. I have cases for both sides: Button is such a smooth driver and a great overtaker. But Hamilton is a great overtake artist as well and does it with such flare and aggression. And he goes for it when all hope is lost. That is the hallmarks of a great driver. Jenson can do that too though.

two things here, first is a typo which i have put in bold

second: among the two, who would you want to do better?

this was very nice article Phil . Waiting for the next one

Though i did not like it, Button did win last year's title and as you said, hence definetly deserved the title. For Button's sake i hope that he doesnt do poorly. ofcourse i would prefer him to beat Lewis actually but i doubt it (especially considering that he has newly joined the team)