F1 - Jenson

[devilgas]

surprised no topic about JB on here yet.

thought his drive on sunday was superb and worthy of a champion. starting 14th with everything to lose, i was expecting a repeat of DC's final race from last year, but glad to see it didn't happen. his overtakes were top drawer every time. makes a change having a circuit where overtaking is possible though.
vet & ham's drives were also brilliant.

think motorsport must be the only sport where you don't get to see the champion awarded the prize unless they finish on the podium. assume there'll be something a bit more formal at abu.

kobayashi looks like a driver to watch for the future.

[Ian]

Re: F1 - Jenson

surprised no topic about JB on here yet.

thought his drive on sunday was superb and worthy of a champion. starting 14th with everything to lose, i was expecting a repeat of DC's final race from last year, but glad to see it didn't happen. his overtakes were top drawer every time. makes a change having a circuit where overtaking is possible though.
vet & ham's drives were also brilliant.

think motorsport must be the only sport where you don't get to see the champion awarded the prize unless they finish on the podium. assume there'll be something a bit more formal at abu.

kobayashi looks like a driver to watch for the future.

The championship presentations are held at the end of season FIA bash.

I, too, thought Jenson's drive was superb in Brazil. Vettel had a faster car, but he had more difficulty making the same passes, and only lucked into passing Jenson in the stops. I also thought he wasn't particularly pleasant about things after the race. I do hope he doesn't mature into a Schumacher figure in more ways than one!

In retrospect, and despite Jenson's denials, I do think the pressure of the championship points situation affected his driving, although he seemed to throw caution to the wind last Sunday. But let's not forget that he's scored more wins than both his main championship rivals combined and has scored points in every race but one. Even when his car was clearly not as good as his rivals, he consistently scored points and under great pressure too.

I really hope, now the shackles are off, we can have a barn stormer of a finale race at the interesting new Abu Dhabi circuit in two weeks and maybe Jenson can sign-off the 2009 season with a win.

And 2010 looks very interesting. There will be much more emphasis on conserving tyres as the cars will be much heavier at the start (no re-fuelling for 2010), and this should play into Jenson's hands as a very smooth driver.

Ian

[devilgas]

Re: F1 - Jenson

hopefully mclaren can stay ahead of ferrari in the CC at abu dhabi & rube can get the 3 pts he needs to pass vets. looking forward to that race now! my prediction? jenson (to prove a point), bari, vettel
great for brawn to get their maiden CC....i've never seen ross so emotional at any other time than he was at the close of play on sunday.

[JSR]

Re: F1 - Jenson

I thought it was one of the best races of the season. Jenson didn't have to fight his way through the field (neither Vettel nor Rubens were doing enough to make it through to the next race) but he did it anyway. That's the mark of a champion.

I've read many opinions on the web from many anti-Button people who say he's not a worthy champion and I just don't understand them.

They say things like "he only won because he had the best car". Yeah, so whoever won the WDC with a lousy car? Lewis had the best car last year, he doesn't have the best car this year, last year he won, this year he didn't. How is that any different to Button?

It's never been "just" the driver or "just" the car - it's a whole package. After years of watching Button in dogs of cars and making some strange choices, I always thought that one day the title would be his. Now that it is, I'm over the moon about it.

I just don't understand those who don't think he's worthy to be WDC. He's won more points than anyone else, he's won more races than anyone else (so, unlike last year, he would have won even if they were using the "medals" system), and he's won more races than Lewis did last year. How can anyone say that he's not worthy?

Some people say that the second half of the season has shown that he's a mid-field racer but, given that his car is *not* the best it could be, that's kind of understandable. I was reading one of the BBC blogs about how the Brawn car is a bit of a botch-job. Prior to the season it was apparently two-seconds faster than it needed to be - but with Honda pulling out, they had to hack up the chassis to fit in the Mercedes engine and the gearbox was in the wrong place because the crank-centre height is different, resulting in a very compromised car. As a result, it's actually slower than it should be. While other teams have been able to pour money into their cars, Brawn haven't been able to.

In addition to that, Brawn GP only had three chassis all year (one for Button, one for Rubens, and one spare) while other teams have seven or eight. So, while everyone else has been able to throw caution to the wind and not care about crashing off, just one crash from Brawn leaves them severely on the back foot. This has got to have contributed towards Button's more cautious approach in the latter half of the season.

Not only does this bode well for next season and the Brawn car not being a one-hit wonder (because next year, they'll have a properly designed chassis) but it should mean that we'll get one heck of a race at Abu Dhabi. With the WDC now sorted out, and no worries about lack of a replacement chassis, I think Button will go all out and push 100% for the win.

Earlier in the season, many people were claiming that F1 was boring because Jense kept winning and that the championship would be over before it had chance to begin. Now that hasn't happened and the WDC went down to the penultimate race they're saying that Jense isn't worthy because he didn't win every single race. They're never happy.

Some people also complain that the final race in Abu Dhabi is a wasted race because the WDC is already decided. Don't these people enjoy F1? Even though Jense has clinched the WDC and Brawn have the CC, I'm looking forward to Abu Dhabi more than ever - not because it'll decide the championship, but because I want to see Rubens and Vettel go toe-to-toe to challenge for second place in the championship. We don't need to worry about the top spot any more, so we can concentrate on second and third place. Will Rubens make it a Brawn one-two in the WDC, or will Vettel race for glory and put one final feather in Red Bull's cap for this year?

In addition to that, there's the question over third place in the constructors. Will it be McLaren or Ferrari? Both teams have one top-class driver and one who isn't delivering, so it's anybody's guess.

It's interesting to keep reading that Button hasn't yet been signed up for next year by Brawn. They need to get their finger out. Also, it's been reported recently, that Branson is holding off on continuing their sponsorship of Brawn into next year. Is Branson waiting until he sees where Button ends up first? Wouldn't surprise me if Branson wants to be sure his Virgin logo is on the car with the number "1" next year, regardless of which team that happens to be.

Anyway, for me, 2009 has been one of the best years as a viewer of F1 and supporter of Button. After last two years of the media going mad over "Lewismania" and the prospect of Button not racing in 2009, I was on the verge of turning my back on the sport. I'm glad I didn't!

My predictions for Abu Dhabi - Button for the win. If Vettel gets his act together and stops moping about now he can't be WDC, he'll probably come in second - but if he keeps carrying that doom shadow over his shoulder, it'll be Rubens.

[Ian]

Re: F1 - Jenson

JSR - we often disagree on things, nothing wrong in that, but for once I second most of what you have said in your 'little' post

When Jenson embarrassed Ralf Schumacher at Williams in his first season, I was pretty sure he was one of the 'chosen ones' as one of the F1 hacks put it.

The 2004 season underlined that, when he was only beaten by the unbeatable Ferraris. It was down hill from then car-wise, until this year. Of course Hungary in 2006 he showed his talent under very difficult wet conditions to take an unlikely maiden win. I fully concur that this year's car was far from perfect because of the late switch from Honda drivetrain to Mercedes. It could have been Ferrari at one point too. I also think the emphasis on the double-diffuser was a red herring; Williams and Toyota also had it, but didn't match Brawn's success.

I'm hoping that Jenson will make an unfettered showing at Abu Dhabi, too.

Next year will be very interesting with the additional rule changes. I think they will suite Jenson's driving style. But it will also be a more level playing field. On the one hand Brawn's inherent excellence could be magnified in 2010 as they dial out the imperfections thrust on them with the late engine change and relative lack of resources. But if they don't maintain their winning form, there can be no excuses.

It will be interesting to see if the mooted Barrichello/Rosberg swap will have an effect? I got the feeling that Jenson often benefitted from setup changes from Rubens' side of the garage.

Whatever, 2010 is going to be fascinating!

Ian

[coupekid]

Re: F1 - Jenson

I thought it was one of the best races of the season. Jenson didn't have to fight his way through the field (neither Vettel nor Rubens were doing enough to make it through to the next race) but he did it anyway. That's the mark of a champion...........=.

toooo muuuch reaaading......eyes.....burning......

What a race, and what a quali session as well.....I am so gutted, I didnt realise there was a switch over to bbc2! so missed the last session

superb to see back to back brits for the first time in 40years!

[peter]

Re: F1 - Jenson

As above really. Lets just hope the red cars make a better showing next year.

[JSR]

Re: F1 - Jenson

As above really. Lets just hope the red cars make a better showing next year.

Totally agree. I just hope the Brawns can keep up development-wise. With McLaren, Ferrari, Brawn, Red Bull (and, who knows, maybe Renault, too) each with top drivers in both cars, it could be a season to remember.

[Mowgli]

Re: F1 - Jenson

As above really. Lets just hope the red cars make a better showing next year.

I guess the mclarens failed in the attempt to set fire to them in sundays race


Bring on the Brits

Mowgli

[JSR]

Re: F1 - Jenson

I guess the mclarens failed in the attempt to set fire to them in sundays race


Bring on the Brits

Mowgli

Perhaps this was Kovaleinen's way of telling his replacement for next year exactly what he thinks of him!