Button- i still really root for this guy

[pugwash4x4]

i still find myself hoping that Jensen will pull something out of the hat and start winning races. Am i the only person who feels like this?

Really like the guy for a number of reasons, he always seems to be outperforming Barrichello and with the right car it really looks like he would win consistently.

is honda really going to get it's finger out of its arse next year and run a competitive vehicle?

[MrKipling43]

No, you're not on your own.

I've long been a champion of Button's ability, and I still believe he's got what it takes to win the championship.

I was thrilled to bits when Brawn said that he would be retaining Jens' services for '09 - they've had the budget to do well for years, but they were always held back by that terminal muppet Nick 'Smiler' Fry. Now they've got Ross Brawn at the helm they should be able to make a genuine play for glory in 2009, given that everyone has been starting from the same point as everyone else.

In fact, I think that teams like Toyota and Honda will be at an advantage in 2009, since you can be damn sure they won't be concentrating much of their resources on this year's campaign!

[DrTre]

I'm not a fan of any driver in particular..with the tiniest exception for Button. Don't know why.

Actually, maybe a better way of putting it is I like or respect all the drivers or facets of their personalities/abilities but I like Jense a bit more.

[matt3001]

I just think the guy moans too much, especially about the car... when really he should get behind the team and offer them support... he is always saying how the car has cost him blah blah. Bit sick of Jenson really, he won a hollow victory in Hungary and messed Williams around, and I have no doubt he would up and leave Honda if he got the chance, not that he ever will get that chance

[Ponk]

I used to be a massive Button fan but all of his moaning has lost him my respect. Yes we know the car is poo but we don't here Fizzy/Sutil moaning as much and there cars are much much worse.

I remember an article on the F1 coverage ages ago that compared driving styles. Button is supposedly the better driver, but the car has to be perfect for him to do well, the likes of Alonso and Hamilton can make a car work for them through their much more agressive driving style. I imagine if he was plonked in either a red or silver car he would be capable of winning races. I'm not sure if he still has the fire in him though.

[Chris Type R]

I have an autographed cap from his BAR days. I hope that he gets a good enough car to increase it's eBay value

[tinman0]

matt3001 said:

I just think the guy moans too much, especially about the car... when really he should get behind the team and offer them support... he is always saying how the car has cost him blah blah. Bit sick of Jenson really, he won a hollow victory in Hungary and messed Williams around, and I have no doubt he would up and leave Honda if he got the chance, not that he ever will get that chance

C'mon, you can hardly blame him moaning about the car, its been consistently dreadful for the last couple of years at least. And the final races of last year were embarrassing, and even I actually felt sorry for him.

[Get Karter]

pugwash4x4 said:

he always seems to be outperforming Barrichello

Recent races have seen Rubens outperform JB.

Don't know what has caused this, but Ross Brawn suggested that Jenson was finding it tough to keep motivated with the current car.

[Tony 1234]

I used to follow him when he was first in F1, but I now think he is just a winger! and could not beat LH in the same car in a million years!

Tony

[FNG]

Ponk said:

I used to be a massive Button fan but all of his moaning has lost him my respect. Yes we know the car is poo but we don't here Fizzy/Sutil moaning as much and there cars are much much worse.

Difference is that Button was putting in poles and fastest laps a few years ago in the same team. Expectations were high and Honda have spectacularly underdelivered for the last 3 seasons. I really don't think Fisi and Sutil have ever had anything like the same expectation from their car, or the knowledge that they have an impressive development budget behind them.


I also have a serious issue with this way people have of interpreting a frank assessment of the car (generally in these situations the car is an unmitigated dog) and urging more work and more development on the car, to be 'moaning'.

It's nothing of the sort, it's trying to exhort the team to greater efforts (or management to release more development funding).

Any driver who does 70 laps in a terrible car and says, 'yup happy with 12th place today, mustn't grumble, it was a tough race, for sure,' is never going to sit in a decent car and is never going to win.

You can tell what happens when someone lives in smiley happy la-la land where you always look on the bright side and never say anything negative - look at Nick Fry. He never ever looks like he wants to win, he looks like he truly is 'happy with 12th, mustn't grumble.'

[DrTre]

Wholly agree FNG. Since when is it whinging to complain that you're consistently not being given the tools to deliver the results that ENTIRE team wants to see?

I'd sooner see someone state their car is a POS (when it clearly is) than sit quiet, toe the company line and never speak out of turn like a little lapdog. It's not like they're so near yet so far...they're fking miles behind almost everyone. BAR were on the cusp of great things not so long ago, there was a palpable expectation of them breaking into the top 3 or 4. Now...

Button has been the architect of his own misfortune and gets no sympathy for me for that, but neither do Williams get any sympathy, what goes around comes around if you're talking "treatment". Was always quite surprised at the level of opprobrium shown to JB with regard to that, given FWs treatment of drivers.

Love the nick fry comment, he's like Unlucky Alf ain't he?
"Awww bugger"

Edited by DrTre on Thursday 24th July 13:45

[kevin ritson]

What matters is that the team rated him highly last year (and probably still do) - clearly he's not a whinger. His stock amongst those in the know was massive at the end of 2007, too.

[1]

FNG said:

Ponk said:

I used to be a massive Button fan but all of his moaning has lost him my respect. Yes we know the car is poo but we don't here Fizzy/Sutil moaning as much and there cars are much much worse.

Difference is that Button was putting in poles and fastest laps a few years ago in the same team. Expectations were high and Honda have spectacularly underdelivered for the last 3 seasons. I really don't think Fisi and Sutil have ever had anything like the same expectation from their car, or the knowledge that they have an impressive development budget behind them..

Fisi has had more wins than button and the same amount of poles. I think a better comparison would be Trulli who has also had a win and 3 poles in his career and drives for a team with a far greater budget than Honda yet still under perform, and I have never heard him undermine his teams efforts in public in the way Button does.

FNG said:

I also have a serious issue with this way people have of interpreting a frank assessment of the car (generally in these situations the car is an unmitigated dog) and urging more work and more development on the car, to be 'moaning'.

Behind the scenes perhaps, but the constant whining everytime he is interviewed must grate on the guys in his team.

FNG said:

[It's nothing of the sort, it's trying to exhort the team to greater efforts (or management to release more development funding).

In the same way he tried to exhort the team to greater efforts when he tried to shaft them by going to Williams when he was still under contract! He didnt even have the balls to tell them to their face either, instead he sent out a press release and went into hidding! Maybe if he had given Honda the £20m he gave to Williams they might be a little further up the grid.

The guy is in it for himself and does not give a feck about building a team.

I have never seen Button as one of the best and am amazed he has kept his seat as long as he has, let alone commanded the 3rd highest salary of any driver. I think the fact is that any driver on the grid can win a race in the right car, on the right day, with the right set or circumstances, the best drivers get the best from what they have and I dont get the impression that Button does.

Edited by 1 on Thursday 24th July 12:36

[pugwash4x4]

Get Karter said:

pugwash4x4 said:

he always seems to be outperforming Barrichello

Recent races have seen Rubens outperform JB.

Don't know what has caused this, but Ross Brawn suggested that Jenson was finding it tough to keep motivated with the current car.

But if you look at longer trends he has consistently outperformed him.

Don't reckon he whinges that much recently either- think he's just given up trying as he's so exasperated at the performance of the car.

F1 is all about money usually so you would think that the team with the most money would win (ergo Honda). However this just hasn't been the case with Honda has it? even though they have shed loads of cash for F1 at the moment- is it just a case of having crap management?

[BoRED S2upid]

Get Karter said:

pugwash4x4 said:

he always seems to be outperforming Barrichello

Recent races have seen Rubens outperform JB.

Don't know what has caused this, but Ross Brawn suggested that Jenson was finding it tough to keep motivated with the current car.

I think its obvious from his interviews hes not happy and he doesn't put a gloss on it, if they have a crap car for a weekend it will come out in interviews. I like his honesty, you wouldn't catch Hamilton being that honest.

[John D.]

pugwash4x4 said:

even though they have shed loads of cash for F1 at the moment- is it just a case of having crap management?

Too much interference from Japan seems to be the general concensus. Things should start to improve next year once Ross Brawn's influence takes hold.

[Ponk]

A direct comparison would be DC and Webber, they too have had horribly unreliable and under performing cars over the past few seasons (less so now) yet the manage to come across as professional in interviews. Button just comes across as whinging, which no doubt has a negative effect on the team.

If he is so frustrated why doesn't he go elsewhere? Alonso moved from a team he was frustrated with? Why doesn't Jenson?

[Altrezia]

Another fan of Jens here.

[Get Karter]

BoRED S2upid said:

I like his honesty, you wouldn't catch Hamilton being that honest.

I think that is a function of being at McLaren, rather than a trait of Lewis Hamilton.

Look how honest DC became when he was relieved of the shackles of 'the firm'.

[MrKipling43]

Get Karter said:

BoRED S2upid said:

I like his honesty, you wouldn't catch Hamilton being that honest.

I think that is a function of being at McLaren, rather than a trait of Lewis Hamilton.

Look how honest DC became when he was relieved of the shackles of 'the firm'.

Indeed.

Also, given how brilliantly he's doing at the moment, saying things like "the car's amazing" and "the team are doing a fantastic job", probably is being pretty honest to be fair!