EXCLUSIVE: Button facing the end of his Formula One career at 29

Andreas, I remember when he took Kubicas seat in the BMW at Indy, you were not to thrilled about him. I agree he did an excellent job this season, but I think in terms of speed compared to his Teammate, he was not that much faster.

 

True, I wasn't thrilled about him in Indy nor was I in Fuji. But those are rookie mistakes due to his inexperience.

We always wondered what Schumacher could have done driving a Minardi. Well, Monza 08 we got the answer: He wins in it.

 

I thought Jenson would crush RB this past season and it didn't happen, he was outqualified and outpointed. I like JB but thought he might be in trouble at Honda, most drivers with time in should be able to handle a past generation teammate who is new to the team, Rubens' performance was surprising.

 

.....yes, well i'm sure that Jenson is very troubled by all your criticism... When the track is wet is when the best 'drivers' show themselves. On that score, JB is amongst the best ever. Poor management and career advice has led him to his present circumstance. His actual abilities have been highly rated by many noted drivers from other eras. The opinions offered here are of far less value....

 

Honestly, I don't rate Rubens very well at all. He was sort of like Heiki Kovalainen... sometimes (but only rarely) Rubens would be untouchable, even by Schumi. But most of the time, he had an amazing ability to take the fastest car on the grid by far, and make it run mid-pack. While he did to better than Jens this year, he did much worse last year.

As for Coulthard, he was not too bad in his prime, although he was decent in a car that was again, head and shoulders faster than the rest.

It's not that I think Rubens or Coulthard are crappy drivers, I just think Jenson is a pretty good driver. Now of course, there isn't a lot of empirical data to support that but I do think it's true that he has done pretty well in really bad cars, and I think it's also true that you don't hear about him as much as guys like Coulthard, because he's not always screwing up

 

Wow, then Sebastian Bourdais must pretty close, since he qualified 4th, and ran faster lap times than Vettel during the race. Bourdais was a shoe in for the podium, if it hadn't been for the car crapping out on the start, which I've read wasn't his fault. Andreas, I think that's a gross exaggeration. it's clear the STR team made some huge progress, enough for Alonso to declare them the third best team at the end of the year. Vettel is good, no doubt, but I'm certainly not convinced he's of the calibre of Alonso or Hamilton.

As for Button, it's a shame he's in this position. I've always seen him as a young Coulthard type driver, sometimes excellent, but ultimately not up to the level of F1's absolute best.

 

We all have our beliefs. Let's revisit this one a few years down the road.

 

Yes, but in a Minardi designed by Adrian Newey, running the same spec Ferrari Engine with a proper budget courtesy of the Sugar Drink Maker.

 

Right, that same Adrian Newey who designed the fantastic Red Bull racing cars which challenged for the title. And that famous Ferrari Engine that brought Fisichella in the Farce India car within a whisker of the Championship.

Vettel at Monza in the Toro Rosso was Senna in the Toleman in Monaco or Schumacher in the Jordan at Spa. Without burning the clutch that is.

Sorry pal, but Vettel is from the cloth of multiple champions.

 

i actually rate Jenson as the best of the rest, as in Trulli, Webber, etc. The thing is, he just isn't equipped with the proper car and team to show his potential. Plus, given his age, i suspect all this ccrappy cars Honda were providing him has certainly drained his motivation away. I'd definitely would love to see what he;s capable of, say in a team like BMW..

 

+1

i can only imagine if he can genuinely challenge for the title this season.

 

So? STR are their own team, and they did a great job. That's completely seperate from Force India and RBR, you're only looking at the common factors, i.e an engine and a designer, but you're not considering the fact that each is their own team, and each team develops their own car seperately. You don't honestly believe that the RBR and the FI cars are capable of getting on the podium, and even pulling off a win, do you? I ask because the points you made are going in that direction.

Also, about the multiple champion remark, most F1 drivers can be multiple champions with the right car. Hell, look Massa, if his engine hadn't have gone kablamo at Hungary, he'd be a WDC. He'd also have at least a decent shot at another title, simply because he's a Ferrari driver contracted for several years. Also, what multiple WDC was beaten comprehensively by their F3 teammate? Nothing against Vettel, i'm simply saying that going quicker than a champcar refugee is good, but not the indicator of a Hamilton or Alonso type of talent. As you said, let's wait and see. After all, I remember when Teddy Bear was still around, you saying "Ted, I can almost smell you're 10k". Well, you were right, technically, because he did have his 10k.

 

If picking for my team, pecking order would be:
Button, Trulli, Rubino, Coultard, Ralf

 

I wonder what happened to Ralf. In a way, few terrible crashes, especially that one in Indy that fractured his back and confidence spelled his downside of F1. Rubens was reasobaly good in Stewart, and was pretty good at Ferrari. DC was good in 1998 and 2000. Trulli, IMO is just being used to fill up the driver spots.

 

It wasn't mean who came up with the comparison to RBR, which I doubt will make it to the podium. Nor will Force India.

My point was, that having great ingredients like Newey and a Ferrari engine won't automatically make you a winning team.

Also remember that TR is Mateschitz' B team, smaller budget, smaller pool of resources. They did a nice job this year, but it was Schumacher, err Vettel who pulled the rabbit out of the hat. Not even Alonso (whom I think the world of) was capable of that when he drove for that team.

 

Bet Button wishes he hadn't spent £16 million of his own money to get out of that contract with Williams now. Such a shame.

In order of ranking in my view. Jenson, Rubens, David, Trulli, Ralf.

 

EXCLUSIVE: WHO GIVES A CRAP ?!?

..honestly Button is one damn lucky 29 year old englishman who has made a **** load of money for basically being a less than average F1 driver...lucky bastard