Button and Raikkonen

[nobby]

if he has the car under him massa will show them both the way home

[cmgreen]

[QUOTE
Anyway i think Hamilton will hand button his arse in the majority of races next year =)[/QUOTE]

Totally agree. But i think Mclaren have pulled a blinder, they have a agressive youngster and a smooth driver. I reckon they could be trying to educate/mould hamilton to be a bit smoother. Hope that button is'nt embarrassed too much.

[DaveG28]

I'm with DC, I think Hamilton will beat Button regardless of the car characteristics. Button will be close if it's a car that suits him though, but can't see him being ahead.

Remember, Rubens outqualified him more times than not this year, he was handed his arse back at Renault too, and he's very infrequently trounced a teammate at any time in his career (I say trounced, I know he's edged a few).

If they can keep him from "going all Alonso" when it doesn't go well though it's a great move for the team!

[Adam Skelding]

If Brawn GP would have stayed Brawn GP, I think Button may have stayed, but with Merc taking over, I think Button moved quickly before he was left with nowhere to go.
Lets face it Button isn't from the correct part of western Europe for Mercedes, Heidfeld is.....

Lewis and Button in same car for 2010, Ecclestone must have gone through some loo roll at the thought of that.

I agree with Mr Doughty two different styles of driver in the same car, both on Multi year deals. Long term future for Mclaren is looking very 'Orange' or should that be Vodafone.

My interest in F1 has come back with a bang over the last year, I'm watching the clock on the F1 website already for the start of next.....

[Nick Goodall]

I have to agree with DaveG - The fact that Rubens kept Button honest all the way to the end should give some ideas of how Button will fair against Hamilton - I believe Lewis is in a different league to Button and be easily 3 tenths up on average per lap, just through pure talent alone.

Button's obviously a very good driver but for me he lacks that last edge of talent that others have had over the years.... The fact that Lewis was quicker then Alonso in most cases when they were both in the same car says a hell of a lot about his ability, and i can't see Button ever being as quick as those two.

[ashleyb4]

Happy to see rubens has a drive with williams. Would like to see him go well this year. The whole button hamilton thing i hope button wipes the floor with him.

A

[DCM]

I can't see how you can say that Jenson hasn't got 'the edge' after his drive at Brazil.... that was an awesome peice of work. It is his qualifying that has let him down, and to some extent, the Brawn mentality, that it is points rather than wins.

[mdb_75]

Button did do well at Brazil, but he started in front of Hamilton and Vettel and they both made up more places than he did.

[jhammond]

Originally Posted by losixxx

main point will be Jenson likes driving a heavier car (was mostly faster than all when fully fueled this season) and with no re-fueling next season if they get even equipment JB could have the edge...

I think this is a key point; Button is well known for his smooth driving style; being able to conserve tyre condition and perform with a heavier car.

Although, of the two, I feel that Hamilton is a far more talented driver.

Big thing is that McLaren have got themselves a brilliant pairing of drivers, I think they'll work well together and should provide a good show for British supporters.

It's going to be a fantastic season.


Julius.

[bodgit]

Button left the Brawn team, now owned by Mercedes, to join the 2008 champion Hamilton at McLaren earlier this week.
"I thought the challenge of going up against Lewis in his environment would be exciting," he told BBC Radio 5 live.
"I'm earning less than I would have at Brawn, so it's not for money - everyone involved knows that's the case."

Aside from Raikkonen, Hamilton and Alonso, similarly ahead of Button on the list are Brawn-bound Williams star Nico Rosberg, Massa, Toyota veteran Jarno Trulli and Red Bull Racing pairing Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber. Whilst four drivers on the grid – Kazuki Nakajima (Williams), Romain Grosjean (Renault) and Adrian Sutil and Vitantonio Liuzzi (both Force India F1) – went unpaid, the total salaries nonetheless equalled a mind-numbing $134.8 million, or to put it another way, an average of $6.4 million per driver.

“There may be a global recession going on,” remarked Tom Rubython, who compiled the list, “but being an F1 driver means you earned a fortune this year. These figures are just basic salaries, and don't include sponsorship and other income, which can often be three times that amount.”


Full list of F1 2009 driver salaries:

1. Kimi Raikkonen $45m
2. Lewis Hamilton $18m
3. Fernando Alonso $15m
4. Nico Rosberg $8.5m
5. Felipe Massa $8m
6. Jarno Trulli $6.5m
7. Sebastian Vettel $6m
8. Mark Webber $5.5m
9. Jenson Button $5m
10. Robert Kubica $4.5m
11. Heikki Kovalainen $3.5m
12. Nick Heidfeld $2.8m
13. Timo Glock $2m
14. Giancarlo Fisichella $1.5m
15. Sébastien Buemi $1.5m
16. Rubens Barrichello $1m
17. Jaime Alguersuari $0.5m
18. Vitantonio Liuzzi $Nil
19. Adrian Sutil $Nil
20. Romain Grosjean $Nil
21. Kazuki Nakajima $Nil


What the F1 teams spent on drivers in 2009:

1. Ferrari $53m
2. McLaren-Mercedes $21.5m
3. Renault $15m
4. Red Bull Racing $11.5m
5. Toyota $8.5
6. Williams $8.5m
7. BMW-Sauber $7.3m
8. Brawn GP $6m
9. Scuderia Toro Rosso $2m
10. Force India $1.5m

[losidan]

I have to agree with earlier posts, hamilton will overshadow JB.

[SlowOne]

Whilst I think Hamilton will, in general, hand Button his arse on a plate...

Hamilton has shown on many occasions that he pushes his tyres hard, and 'loses' them earlier than Button. Now they have to drive on one tank of fuel, which might mean having to preserve tyres when the car is heavy, or light, depending on its traits. Advantage Button...

Since the return to slicks, fronts have had more grip than in the past (fill four grooves with rubber and more rubber is added to the fronts than the rears) so this season if your car was a basic oversteerer, you had more oversteer. If it was your basic understeerer, you got better balance. Whilst this varied from track to track, it seemed to hurt Brawn more than McLaren, and Button dealt with that well. Honours even...

When Barrichello was at Ferrari and started to beat Schumacher, it was because the car came to him away from Michael. Ferrari fixed that, advantage returned to Schumi. This year, the car was the same for both of them but, when it came to Barrichello later in the season, he did a bit better. Advantage Button...

Button can't qualify as well as Hamilton. Advantage Hamilton...

It's going to be a great season!!

[DCM]

Fronts will be narrower for 2010....

As for tyre consumption, I think them back room boffins will be working out tyre wear and pit strategy.

[Nick Goodall]

sorry got confused there lol