The trouble is knowing his luck, Honda will get it's act together when it's to late for him to prove otherwise. Who knows though, he still could surpise, he is worthy of discussion IMO.
He's no legend. The fact that he's stayed with a team going nowhere for so long just means he's a dope. As far as his performances go, he couldn't beat Fisi or Ralfie and is having his hands full with Rubens right now. Other than that he came out on top over Trulli, Sato, and an over the hill JV. Not exactly the stuff of legends. His only win came because of others hitting trouble. So even if you wanted to call that one drive legendary you couldn't.
He was a good driver before he arived in F1. He has made some poor decisions and he obviously hasn't had a car where he can show his talent. I would liken his career to that of Johnny Herbert - the cheerful, but unsuccessful brit who we all know would be more fun to have a beer with than Schumacher, Hamilton etc, but he will never be an F1 Champion now.
i actually think Ross can get the best out of Jenson. how old is he now? 27? he still has about 4 years at least, to prove he can be a legend.
No he won't ever become a legend. All he will prove, that LH is proving (but yes LH > JB), is that put a really good car under any of the F1 drivers and they could be champion. The reason modern F1 sncks is because there are not enough competitive cars and we all know at the start of the season, unless a miracle happens Ferrari or McLaren will win EVER single race . The only race is to beat your team mate, or wait and see if Ferrari can continue to shoot themselves in the foot ... wow, fnck me that is so exciting NOT!@! Pete ps: Haven't watched a race for ages now ...
+1 I hope he can enjoy the success Honda will probably get, and his time there will prove to have been the right move in long term. Wishfull thinking on my part maybe.
I just think that he should have taken advantage when he was the hot thing on the grid to go to a good solid team and ignore the speculation of an up and coming BAR....that is, if he wanted to win championships.
As if it was that easy? You think Jenson didn't want to go to teams like Ferrari or Mclaren? His only options were where he was wanted. Frank Williams loaned him out to Flavio so he could put Montoya in the car. Frank decided he wanted to keep Montoya, so Jenson stayed at Benetton/Renault for a couple years, and then moved to BAR after Flavio fired him. Frank only wanted him back when Montoya and Ralf left, and at that point BAR was doing much better, and he was able to score multiple podiums. Jenson signed a contract for 05-06 with Williams, but Dave Richards kept him at Honda for 05, then Jenson changed his mind and decided to stay with them for 06 because Williams lost BMW support. That's the story of Jenson's career, no offers from the Scuderia or Mclaren, and now his only hope is that Brawn can turn the team around, and maybe he can start winning more races in the future.
I do think that it's fair to say expectations were pretty high for Honda. They ran one of the most successful engine programs ever, and had a reputation for throwing themselves deeply into motorsports without accepting second best results. But the bottom line is, nothing JB did made any of the majors stand up and bid for him.
i love it when people say a guy is stuck in a mediocre chassis and if he got in a ferrari he would be top three. What a load. If he were the ****, he would be in a ferrari. not the other way around. I think the people running ferrari and mcclaren know who the good driver's are, and can have them. they didn't pick jenson. alonso is a great example. you can tell he is a great driver in a mediocre chassis. jenson is a mediocre driver in a mediocre chassis. and of course, no legend. except to the british maybe.
There is no way to judge Jensen Button's ability today, he is driving a crap car, and likely doing the best that he can. In a better chassis, he might be at the top of the WDC points today. Who knows?? Just like if Lewis Hamilton were driving the Honda, people would be making the same criticisms as we hear about Button today. Hamilton would likely be at the rear of the grid also. Personally, I happen to think Button is very good. I also think Hamilton is very good. Just that neither is the next coming of Christ, or Michael Schumacher to be more specific.
True, everything you say. However, the tone of this thread was set by a journalist labeling Button as a legend. Christ and Schumacher are legends. JB and Hammy are very good drivers. Oh. PLEASE don't anyone misinterpret my Christ and Schumacher statement. There is no implied connection between the two. After all, everyone knows that Clapton is god.
When Button started out in F1, I thought he was the next Senna/Schumacher. He was off to a good start. Then he did some really bone headed team changes, which not only cost him dearly, but also assured he always sat in the wrong car. Then his career flat lined and I felt like a fool having predicted greatness for him. However he managed one win in Hungary, which showed that there was something special about him, because it was a win under tough conditions where greater drivers already faltered. Still it all smelt like Jean Alesi all over again. Now he sits in a car that is finally up to spec and he just runs away with it. And suddenly my original assessment doesn't look so wrong anymore. I hope he will clinch the tite this year. It would be good for him (well duh!), good for the sport (another face at the top) and good for England. He will also establish himself as a racing legend that way. I mean the Brits even applauded Damon Hill and David Coulthard, so I'm sure they'll go gaga over Button as a WDC. The bigger question is however, whether he'll manage to pull a 2nd title out of the bag. There I'm not so sure anymore. I guess by 2010 the big teams will have caught up with Brawn GP and he'll find himself in the same world of hurt that Lewis is in right now.
Aha yes Ian, that's the good bit of a forum... clicking through each page thinking Oh noooohhhs, I didn't say that did I!!...
