Jenson Button—Formula One Legend Or Flop ?

jury still out on Kubica, but interesting to see he is doing well considering the others in the field....there are a lot of experienced non-rookie-types out there and what are they doing. Kubica seems to be holding well....MUCH better than Button.

 

Flop + Total flop + Complete flop + 100% flop = [size=+7]Flopmeister![/size]

 

Giovanni Lavaggi-"Johhny Carwash"! Letterman used to make fun of him all the time on his show despite 99.999% of Americans having no clue he was an actual person. Take that, Zolt!

Here's a different twist on this debate: Jean Alesi has very similar stats...1 win, low points per race average, etc. Yet I would consider him a legend (though not on the level of Gilles). So is that Tifosi bias? Does racing for Ferrari with little success make you a legend? Or is there something about Alesi, like personality or driving style, that gives him legendary status that ol' Jenson doesn't have?

 

one thing for sure when I see Q1 is over: Button's name.

 

Button is a very good driver, I do not think anyone here has been able to observe him in a #1 or #2 chassis to suggest differently. He is stuck in a mediocre chassis, for now, until that changes, jury is out.

I would not yet call Button a legend, maybe never. I can understand the likes of Moss, Fangio, Clark, Senna, Schumacher, even Lauda, Prost, Mansell, Rindt, but not many or any of the other names mentioned. I liked Gilles, spectacular to watch, fast, colorful, comparitively didn't win much, and he killed himself and a few spectators before that. In my book, that is not a legend.

 

Alesi became a legend (he is to me anyway) by the way he drove the Tyrell not the Ferrari. That first race of his squaring off against Senna of all people in Phoenix tipped him as something special. He consistently took that car by the neck and wrung more performance out of it than should have been there during that season. Had he decided to go to Williams rather than Ferrari the guy would be a multiple WDC. As it is I was proud to have him in the Ferrari seat as he always gave it his all. If there was rain, he was brilliant to watch. Right up there with Senna and Schumacher.

Watch here for the 1990 battle: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jye3mBc8L24

 

+1

Nothing more to say.
Pete

 

Always liked JB and always will. A solid contender who should have gone further but nevertheless I'm thankful he got his win in the same way I'm thankful Alesi and Herbert (2?) got theirs (and probably a few others I can't think of right now (Nannini ?)). Neither a flop nor a legend, but certainly deserving of his long distinguished tenure in F1.

 

Are you aware of the Williams/Honda debacle? He was fully prepared to jump ship, then stay put, then jump ship again, all in a span of two seasons. He fought Honda to get released from his contract to go to Williams and failed. The following season he shelled out major bucks to get out of his Williams contract to stay with Honda.

If you think he is staying at Honda out of dedication, you are sorely mistaken. He is a driver who has made very foolish career decisions, he is no more a "legend" than was Jean Alesi, perhaps the closest analogy to JB in recent F1 history, a very talented driver with the potential of winning a WDC who squandered his opportunities.

 

Jb is the best wet driver ont he current grid, according to Autosport.

Do you know something that the leading F1 journal does not?

 

Exactly! Just look at Massa!



Sorry guys...this one was just too good to pass up

 

+1 Is.

 

One can also look at Alonso for a prime example of that.

 

jenson is a flop. i like him as a person but he's one of the most overpaid guys out there. I'd really like to see what he could do behind the mclaren or ferrari though.

 

Why would you want to see him in a Mclaren or Ferrari, if you think he is a flop!! your mind is made up.

 

J B a legend, I dont think so, a legend is one who will be remembered in years to come, he wont. Like many other British sportsmen (Tim Henman, Andy Murray) to name a couple, he was big on bumming himself and his chances up, he does'nt do it so much now though i guess it's finally dawned he's not gonna get anywhere. True Legends are few and rightly so, drivers like Senna, Prost, Lauda, Piquet, Mansel, and of course the greatest of all time Michael Schumacher

 

Re-reading the article, I think the author has a man crush on JB and is having difficulties coming to terms with the unfulfilled potential of a driver for whom he once held lofty hopes. He's mixing the terms "legendary" and "admirable" when describing back-of-the-grid drivers who show up and go about their business. But that fails to address that at the end of the day, they're still being paid handsomely to perform their job. Most of them anyway. Let's not confuse these drivers for coalminers or Peace Corps volunteers. The only way for Button to achieve any kind of memorable status would be for him to drive Honda to the top and win a couple Championships. I don't see it happening, but only time can tell...

 

+1 yes I concur with that.

 

True enough..........also DC won 13 GP's and he's no legend either

 

Most of his career has been as a middle of the field driver in a middle of the field car. He might be top 5 if in a Ferrari, BMW, or McLaren.....

 

and he might not, DC was in a Mclaren but he never made it

 

Agreed, JB will be another DC, a bit of an also-ran. And after the "do I drive for Williams or Honda" fiasco a couple of seasons ago......

 

Nail; meet Hammer.

 

made some BAD key career decisions, which legends don't do. Has won a single race. Legend ? Not even close. His fudging over team choice will bother him long after retirement. There's a younger tranche of fast drivers in town, and he missed the boat.

 

Hard to believe that a thread asking if Jenson Button is a legend went three pages! How many ways are there to say "no"?