Perez - Was Luca right?
Perez - Was Luca right?
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E91M3

Original Poster:

202 posts

167 months

Thursday 18th April 2013
quotequote all
Interesting chatter coming out of McLaren since the last GP with Whitmarsh basically telling Sergio to "Man-Up". Makes you wonder if di Montezemolo was right last year?

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/102478

Hopefully the boy can turn it around otherwise it could be 1993 again?

HustleRussell

26,479 posts

189 months

Thursday 18th April 2013
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'man up'? 'turn it around'? The guy is three race weekends into a totally new team with a car which is widely acknowledged to be a dog. He's a relatively inexperienced driver who has been thrust into a team where he has more responsabilities, commitments and ultimately more pressure than ever before.
I think he's performing pretty much as I would have expected given the performance of the car (or more accurately, lack thereof).

DBSV8

5,958 posts

267 months

Thursday 18th April 2013
quotequote all
E91M3 said:
Interesting chatter coming out of McLaren since the last GP with Whitmarsh basically telling Sergio to "Man-Up". Makes you wonder if di Montezemolo was right last year?

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/102478

Hopefully the boy can turn it around otherwise it could be 1993 again?
he's no where near as bad as Andretti ? ...........or " our Fat Nige" ,He's been on the podium last year, even Senna struggled in 94 in the first 3 races with Williams

see how he fairs in the next few races

TheHeretic

73,668 posts

284 months

Thursday 18th April 2013
quotequote all
HustleRussell said:
'man up'? 'turn it around'? The guy is three race weekends into a totally new team with a car which is widely acknowledged to be a dog. He's a relatively inexperienced driver who has been thrust into a team where he has more responsabilities, commitments and ultimately more pressure than ever before.
I think he's performing pretty much as I would have expected given the performance of the car (or more accurately, lack thereof).
This.

Ultuous

2,291 posts

220 months

Thursday 18th April 2013
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^^^
That!...

I will admit I've found his form rather disappointing since around mid-season last year, but there seems to be so much pressure/ expectation to deliver from their first couple of seasons these days...

Hard to tell who's going to be lifting championship trophies when the Alonsos/ Kimis/ Hamiltons/ Vettels have started to put their feet up, but I wouldn't be surprised if it's someone who's shown pace AND managed to firmly knuckle down and keep the car pointing mostly in the right direction as a second driver for a season or two!

TheHeretic

73,668 posts

284 months

Thursday 18th April 2013
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I think Button was looking good for at least a 5th in Malaysia.

belleair302

7,008 posts

236 months

Thursday 18th April 2013
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I would wait and see what happens in July. If he isn't running top ten at the end of every GP and top six in qualifying then I think there may be changes. McLaren may also be having bigger sponsor problems than they wish to explain....

davepoth

29,395 posts

228 months

Thursday 18th April 2013
quotequote all
Gaz. said:
I did expect him to be closer to Jenson. JB has a 9th & a 5th and screwed out of a 7th/8th, Sergio has 11/9/11 and has been outscored by Hulkenberg in a Sauber which didn't even start Australia, both Force Indias and Daniel Ricciardo.

Raikkonen was on the pace against Couthard in 2002 which was a pretty bad year for Mclaren. Coulthard was close to Mika in 1996 and even Blundell didn't do too bad in 1995 so indeed Perez's 2013 drive is the worst Mclaren debut since Mansell in 1995.
You're right, he should be closer. They all should be good drivers and he should be able to get there or there abouts with JB. So either he was flattered by the Sauber last year or Button is doing something vaguely superhuman to score any points at all.

weyland yutani

1,410 posts

193 months

Thursday 18th April 2013
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He has a whiff of Heikki about him to be honest.

HustleRussell

26,479 posts

189 months

Friday 19th April 2013
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Gaz. said:
perhaps Mclaren can only please one or the other or both only so much?
That's always been my excuse for Button vs. Hamilton performance, Hamilton shows more pace early in the game (because he seems to be quite adaptable to different handling characteristics) so for the rest of the season he had the set-up his way.
Don't get me wrong I like Button more personally, but you can't ignore the fact that he moans about the car a lot. I think Hamilton would be getting more out of that car right now.

HustleRussell

26,479 posts

189 months

Friday 19th April 2013
quotequote all
Ultuous said:
I will admit I've found his form rather disappointing since around mid-season last year, but there seems to be so much pressure/ expectation to deliver from their first couple of seasons these days...
Yeah, you can almost pinpoint the moment in 2012 that Perez realised McLaren 2013 was on the cards, soiled his keks and got distracted. He doesn't yet look as comfortable as he did at Sauber in interviews etc. Still I reckon he'll adjust and beat Button outright in a handful of events this season, which let's remember would be no mean feat against a driver of Button's experience.
All of this negative judgement is premature, I've only been truly following the sport and this forum for maybe four years but Maldonado, Sutil, Grosjean etc all spring to mind- dismissed early on but matured very well.

MissChief

7,973 posts

197 months

Friday 19th April 2013
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IMO should have been Hulkenberg instead of Perez. Perez has got lucky last season in a car that was easy on it's tyres and his style alongside that made the car very light on its feet. He got shown up towards the end of the season and, IMO, shows what a dolt Martin Whitmarsh is.

TheHeretic

73,668 posts

284 months

Friday 19th April 2013
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HustleRussell said:
That's always been my excuse for Button vs. Hamilton performance, Hamilton shows more pace early in the game (because he seems to be quite adaptable to different handling characteristics) so for the rest of the season he had the set-up his way.
Don't get me wrong I like Button more personally, but you can't ignore the fact that he moans about the car a lot. I think Hamilton would be getting more out of that car right now.
Why do people equate a driver talking about handling characteristics as moaning, and why does it tend to only be Button? It is weird how the stats show that Button did very well against his team after over their time at McLaren, but still the same old goes. Button has, remember, the same amount of WDC as Hamilton, and has only had a decent car for what, 4 years? The rest of the time he was driving frankly awful piles of poop.

I don't think Button gets enough credit at all, and too many people seem all too happy to bring the same old arguments.

UniversalExport

22 posts

162 months

Friday 19th April 2013
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I know, there is speculation about Webber signing for Porsche. Just a thought, if Sergio doesn't cut the mustard... Perez to Torro Rosso, Ricciardo to Red Bull, Webber to McLaren...

HustleRussell

26,479 posts

189 months

Friday 19th April 2013
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TheHeretic said:
HustleRussell said:
That's always been my excuse for Button vs. Hamilton performance, Hamilton shows more pace early in the game (because he seems to be quite adaptable to different handling characteristics) so for the rest of the season he had the set-up his way.
Don't get me wrong I like Button more personally, but you can't ignore the fact that he moans about the car a lot. I think Hamilton would be getting more out of that car right now.
Why do people equate a driver talking about handling characteristics as moaning, and why does it tend to only be Button? It is weird how the stats show that Button did very well against his team after over their time at McLaren, but still the same old goes. Button has, remember, the same amount of WDC as Hamilton, and has only had a decent car for what, 4 years? The rest of the time he was driving frankly awful piles of poop.

I don't think Button gets enough credit at all, and too many people seem all too happy to bring the same old arguments.
I think you either didn't read/interpret my post correctly, or are mistaking me for a Hamilton fanboy. At which point did I state that Button didn't do 'very well'?

NISaxoVTR

268 posts

198 months

Friday 19th April 2013
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More telling than his initial results is the fact that Mclaren are publically critical of him so early on. You would expect more of the 'He's just joined, it's early days' rhetoric but there has been none of that, so perhaps they aren't happy with their choice now behind the scenes and feel the need to set the tone incase they need to get rid.

TheHeretic

73,668 posts

284 months

Friday 19th April 2013
quotequote all
HustleRussell said:
I think you either didn't read/interpret my post correctly, or are mistaking me for a Hamilton fanboy. At which point did I state that Button didn't do 'very well'?
You stated he moans. I disagree. The rest was just about the usual tattle that folks rattle off.

Marc W

3,782 posts

240 months

Friday 19th April 2013
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I wouldn't think Torro Rosso would want Perez, they have loads of Red Bull Jr drivers in the pipeline already.

HustleRussell

26,479 posts

189 months

Friday 19th April 2013
quotequote all
TheHeretic said:
HustleRussell said:
I think you either didn't read/interpret my post correctly, or are mistaking me for a Hamilton fanboy. At which point did I state that Button didn't do 'very well'?
You stated he moans. I disagree. The rest was just about the usual tattle that folks rattle off.
I'm not interested in 'rattling off the usual tattle'. Button is without a doubt among my three favourite current drivers. The 'moaning' to which I am referring is the post-race interview comments and occasional radio messages complaining about this that or the other- if it isn't 'balance', 'front locking', 'oversteer' related issues it's 'struggling to bring the tyres in' etc. I get the impression that the only reason he hasn't moaned so much this year is the fact that this season't car is so bad he can't pin-point one single factor to moan about and has resolved to just implying the car is crap and making optimistic comments about 'moving forward'...

TheHeretic

73,668 posts

284 months

Friday 19th April 2013
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As I said, 'talking to the engineer' does not constitute moaning. It is communicating, as drivers do, what is happening with the car, be it oversteer, changing balance, or whatever. Just calling it 'moaning' seems shortsighted, and narrow minded.