Jensons future

[SeeFive]

Trabi601 said:

slipstream 1985 said:

some rainmaster today...

One of the worst cars he's ever been given, on a miserable wet day, when he knows he's 1 race from retirement.

I don't think I could be arsed, either.

Today showed just how dreadful that car is. A day when horsepower was secondary to chassis and aero, they still finished way off the pace with both cars.

One car just in the points, the other 6 places back in the wilderness. And in JB's favourite conditions too (so we are told on here).

Obviously, the car is not suited to Jenson's only driving style. Others work around the issues. Best gone into retirement or ambassadorship really, nice bloke, but not a driver who can develop a workaround to something that is not optimal to him.

[lee_fr200]

He's had a bad 2nd half of the season and the car just hasn't been competitive at all!

It looked decent in spa but now looks woeful!

I also think he's lost interest since it was announced SVD will be replacing him

[groomi]

slipstream 1985 said:

some rainmaster today...

Has he ever really been a stand-out rainmaster? I think he's always stood out when the track is drying and the grip is changing from corner to corner, lap to lap. Yesterday just seemed to be fully wet all race.

[DanielSan]

Didn't he say 'one more to go' after qualifying on Saturday? Mentally I think he's already on the beach/testing that Redbull GRC car/JGTC car. It'd be nice if he said he wasn't going to be back and treated Abu Dhabi as a goodbye.

[Derek Smith]

Alonso showed him the way it should be done yesterday. FA had his spin at the worst possible time, with a queue of cars behind. He was unlucky not to put the car two or three places higher.

I've never been too sure of Button's ability. I'm certain of his degree of commitment though. Over the years he has given me the impression of not trying if things aren't entirely to his satisfaction. I was a bit irritated by him yesterday although he seems to have been picked on by those who choose what to broadcast. We don't know how many others were throwing a strop.

[VladD]

groomi said:

slipstream 1985 said:

some rainmaster today...

Has he ever really been a stand-out rainmaster? I think he's always stood out when the track is drying and the grip is changing from corner to corner, lap to lap. Yesterday just seemed to be fully wet all race.

I think Motorsport magazine once claimed that he may be the best ever driver in the wet. Last time I posted that I got flamed. I'd just like to point out that I'm not claiming it, they did.

[swisstoni]

VladD said:

groomi said:

slipstream 1985 said:

some rainmaster today...

Has he ever really been a stand-out rainmaster? I think he's always stood out when the track is drying and the grip is changing from corner to corner, lap to lap. Yesterday just seemed to be fully wet all race.

I think Motorsport magazine once claimed that he may be the best ever driver in the wet. Last time I posted that I got flamed. I'd just like to point out that I'm not claiming it, they did.

I think this highlights how F1 reputations are made with us viewers and what a load of nonsense they often are.
It's just stuff that happens to catch the eye of the viewer and then goes down in folklore;

Jean Alessi made a career out of one audacious re-pass of Senna whilst driving a lowly car (I believe it was Senna). Never did much of note after that.
Verstappen now sits on the right hand of God because of some thrilling passes yesterday.
Jenson is now useless in the wet after being the rainmaster.
Vettel is now not very good after all.
Kimi was great, then past it, then good again and now probably rubbish again.
etc, etc.

[markcoznottz]

swisstoni said:

VladD said:

groomi said:

slipstream 1985 said:

some rainmaster today...

Has he ever really been a stand-out rainmaster? I think he's always stood out when the track is drying and the grip is changing from corner to corner, lap to lap. Yesterday just seemed to be fully wet all race.

I think Motorsport magazine once claimed that he may be the best ever driver in the wet. Last time I posted that I got flamed. I'd just like to point out that I'm not claiming it, they did.

I think this highlights how F1 reputations are made with us viewers and what a load of nonsense they often are.
It's just stuff that happens to catch the eye of the viewer and then goes down in folklore;

Jean Alessi made a career out of one audacious re-pass of Senna whilst driving a lowly car (I believe it was Senna). Never did much of note after that.
Verstappen now sits on the right hand of God because of some thrilling passes yesterday.
Jenson is now useless in the wet after being the rainmaster.
Vettel is now not very good after all.
Kimi was great, then past it, then good again and now probably rubbish again.
etc, etc.

Alesi's Tyrell with the Pirelli tyres flattered him, post Tyrell was mainly an anticlimax. Jenson better karter than F1 driver, hardly ever, if at all consistently faster than any teammate. Vettel an enigma, it's really hard to assess his ability, same for kimi, he has loads of fastest laps across many seasons so in outright speed he must be right up there.

[F1GTRUeno]

It's worth noting that the tyres have changed remarkably since Jenson was last considered a master in challenging conditions and they certainly don't suit him. Neither do the current cars and their power delivery versus the old V8/V10 N/A engines.

Canada 2011 remains one of the all time great drives by anyone and he's won a World Championship too. I look forward to the rest of his career and whatever he does next. Will be sad to see him go but as others have said I think he's mentally checked out already. He was more or less even with Alonso for the first half of the season and since SVD got announced I don't think he's been at the races at all, pun intended.

[andy355]

Jenson's car looked awful in the dry, with snap oversteer so if it was that unbalanced it would be pretty undriveable in the wet.

was ok in fp then wasn't right after engine part changes according to jb

Shame as he usually is very good in the wet

[VolvoT5]

I just get the feeling that this last 9 months or so has really drained Jenson's motivation. It seems like now is the right time to go and despite his continuing contract I would be quite surprised if he ever returns to F1 in a race seat. It is a bit of a shame he didn't just decide to quit properly so he could do a Massa style goodbye.

[ukaskew]

Just watched the whole of Canada 2011 on Sky F1, Jenson really was on another planet that day, his sector times were bonkers compared to every other driver on track, even Schumacher who was also having a blinding race.

[HardtopManual]

swisstoni said:

I think this highlights how F1 reputations are made with us viewers and what a load of nonsense they often are.
It's just stuff that happens to catch the eye of the viewer and then goes down in folklore;

So, in other words, a driver is only as good as their last race. Doesn't seem that unfair to me.

[swisstoni]

HardtopManual said:

swisstoni said:

I think this highlights how F1 reputations are made with us viewers and what a load of nonsense they often are.
It's just stuff that happens to catch the eye of the viewer and then goes down in folklore;

So, in other words, a driver is only as good as their last race. Doesn't seem that unfair to me.

It's often unfair if you are trying to consider a whole career.

[VladD]

HardtopManual said:

swisstoni said:

I think this highlights how F1 reputations are made with us viewers and what a load of nonsense they often are.
It's just stuff that happens to catch the eye of the viewer and then goes down in folklore;

So, in other words, a driver is only as good as their last race. Doesn't seem that unfair to me.

So if a driver won 20 out of 21 races and crashed in the last one, they'd only be judged on the one that they crashed in? Sounds like complete nonsense to me.

[ukaskew]

VladD said:

So if a driver won 20 out of 21 races and crashed in the last one, they'd only be judged on the one that they crashed in? Sounds like complete nonsense to me.

That, and most athletes tail off towards the end of their career, so it's a silly idea. Look at tennis, are Federer and Nadal (and Djokovic) to be marked down because they are no longer number 1?

[Vocal Minority]

Of course they are - 'only as good as your last....' is a nice simple cliché you can use to excuse you from having to go through the tiresome exercise of considering several factors

[Mr_Thyroid]

Vocal Minority said:

Of course they are - 'only as good as your last....' is a nice simple cliché you can use to excuse you from having to go through the tiresome exercise of considering several factors

YES, perfect. I like it. Are they your own words?

[groomi]

VladD said:

HardtopManual said:

swisstoni said:

I think this highlights how F1 reputations are made with us viewers and what a load of nonsense they often are.
It's just stuff that happens to catch the eye of the viewer and then goes down in folklore;

So, in other words, a driver is only as good as their last race. Doesn't seem that unfair to me.

So if a driver won 20 out of 21 races and crashed in the last one, they'd only be judged on the one that they crashed in? Sounds like complete nonsense to me.

Replace reputations with form and it's all true.

Reputations are made of their whole career, and perhaps other factors such as conduct etc. Form is simply based on their last result(s).

Button has a better reputation than Sainz for example. But if you were hiring a driver today to score some points for you, you'd almost certainly go for the guy in better form - Sainz.

[malks222]

Jenson just stuck a picture up on instagram with the following:

'So after 17 years of racing at the pinnacle of motorsport the count down has started to possibly my last race in an F1 car, cant wait for this weekend but I'm sure its going to be very emotional'

so unless a very last minute offer/deal comes in from a team, it looks like this is the end for him.