Funny how all the button bashers have gone quiet.

[enkidu]

Seems to me he's out performed he's team mate twice this year by a massive margin. Driven 2 faultless races and put the fast laps in when needed.


Go Button!!!

[kilcoo316]

Go Button!!!

'Tis all about the car.


You forget Barrichello had a 5 place grid penalty, which tends to affect a weekend.

[db__]

You forget Barrichello had a 5 place grid penalty

Grid penalty or not Button was still 0.6sec faster than Barrichello in Qualifying Q2 and was (I believe) running on the Prime not Option tyre

[De Jokke]

put hammi in the second brawn, button is going to get seriously beaten.
Button is a good average driver, end of story. He just happens to be in the best car on the grid at the moment.

[Callum]

Button has done really well, he has been quick and consistant but i think if hamilton had been given a brawn GP car he'd be even faster..

[Spencifer_Murphy]

put hammi in the second brawn, button is going to get seriously beaten.
Button is a good average driver, end of story. He just happens to be in the best car on the grid at the moment.

Nonsence, Button has proven he can race well and drive quickly. And while I admit he isn't as fast ultimately as say Lewis, Kimi or Fernando, he is a bloody good driver, with an excelent driving technique.

He won in Hungary 2006, and while he had a helping hand from lady luck, he drove very well, especially in the wet, in what was a poor car. His best car thus far has been the BAR from 2004 (with the exception of course of this year's Brawn) and he proved then he was capable by beating everybody that year in the championship except the two dominant Ferrari's.

While it is clear the car has heled, no driver, no matter how good, is going to shine in a --- car, especially the last two Honda's which were, to say the least, abismal in all areas. When a car is understeering, and you crank on from front wing, only to find it understeers more (Button & Rubens complained of this at Hungary in either 07 or 08) you know there's something SERIOUSLY wrong with that car.

Jenson has finally been given a car fast enough to challenge for a title and although I'm not saying he's a great driver, if he wins the title this year you cannot claim it to be just the car. By that logic it was "just the car" for Schumi in 2002 & 2004. Or "just the car for Senna in 1988 which, although true to a point, we are forgetting they had the two best drivers in F1 at the time in that car which compouded the issue for their competetors.

I really dislike the "Its just the car" argument, because there is almost no way to prove it and its an easy way to demean the skills of a driver. If its "just the car" there is no point in watching F1 because the driver has nothing to do with it. The sheer fact that teammates like Piquet can be so comprehensively outclassed by drivers like Alonso proves that, in F1, the car is not everything.

[safeaschuck]

The way Kovalainen's driving we may get a chance to see the two in the same car after all. Won't be a Brawn though, unless Hamilton really is peeved about the steward thing.

[PNSD]

I am sick of hearing "If Lewis was in the Brawn" bullshit.

I could easily argue the same if Button had a Mclaren for all of his career.

Fact is, Lewis has had a championship winning car for the last two years. This time, it seems Button has a good car.

In 2004, I really got annoyed at people constantly saying BAR and Button were only good because of Williams and Mclaren having an off season. Why is it when a team, generally not seen at the top gets it right, people say its only because 'x' got it wrong. Well x did get it wrong, and y did get it right. Thats F1, thats the whole point!!!!

Again you could quite easily say BAR got it right and Mclaren got it wrong, the same way BAR got it wrong in 05...

[De Jokke]

The fact that he got lucky in 2006, almost lost victory in Oz (if kubica hadn't crashed he would have been second) and almost lost it yesterday to glock (race stopped got him the win 'cause glock was wheeling him in), says enough to me: AVERAGE driver!

[Clubber]

The fact that he got lucky in 2006, almost lost victory in Oz (if kubica hadn't crashed he would have been second) and almost lost it yesterday to glock (race stopped got him the win 'cause glock was wheeling him in), says enough to me: AVERAGE driver!

You know what they say about lucky people...

Anyway, 2006 was partly lucky but the fact was that he kept his head together when a lot of 'better' drivers didn't in very difficult conditions

Kubica wouldn't have won - Button wasn't flat out and would have just been able to stay ahead (so is the consensus from everyone apart from BMW

As to yesterday, well that's very debateable..

Anyway, the fact is we don't yet know how good Button really is. There have been some brilliant drivers who looked fairly average until they got in a decent car when they suddenly proved how good they were (Hakkinen is an excellent example - always seemed ok but nothing that special until McLaren gave him the right car) - ok that might mean that Button isn't a Schumacher but frankly, who is... If you know anything about Button's background (rather than just making blanket statements) then you'll know that there's plenty to make it no suprise if he does prove to be a top driver once he's duking it out with the 'top' drivers in cars with similar pace.

[Spencifer_Murphy]

The fact that he got lucky in 2006, almost lost victory in Oz (if kubica hadn't crashed he would have been second) and almost lost it yesterday to glock (race stopped got him the win 'cause glock was wheeling him in), says enough to me: AVERAGE driver!

Rubbish. By what measure exactly was Glock catching Button?! If you recall with 27 laps to go Button passed Glock when on admittedly fresher intermediate tyres. Glock pitted at the end of that lap for the full wet tyres. Button then pitted for the fell wets and after those mighty laps he put in was ahead of Glock again, almost immediately after that the Safety car was deployed. So from that chain of events how could you conclude that Glock was catching Button and the red flag handed Button victory. How can you know that if the rain wasn't so bad and we had continued to full race length that Button wouldn't have won?

Lucky in 06 maybe, but he still won when others lost their cool, on THAT day he and his team did a better job than anybody else. There's no way of knowing he was going to loose in Oz and likewise in Malaysia as on both occasions regardless of whether they were catching him we don't know how hard he was pushing (remember those laps JB put in before he pitted in Maylasia) or how much lap time he had left in reserve, and on both occasions he ultimately was never challenged for the lead because Robert Kubica crashed out and the Malaysian race was red flagged. Also catching a driver is one thing, to pass him is another. Once again on those two days, Button and his team did a better job than anybody else did, that's why he won the race.

[safeaschuck]

I think he may be better than most, he has had a lot of praise from team managers etc. regarding his driving ability even when he was struggling to make mid-table. I think it will take a few more races for the doubters, but he will get there. He is only running a customer version of Hamilton's engine lets not forget, the chassis is obviously very good but we have seen that Barichello (on a good day) can keep up with and even occasionally outdo Mr Schumacher in similar machinery over a timed lap.

[JamesS]

I'm finding it hard to support Button, simply because I'm an out and out Lewis / McLaren supporter. Lewis is the same generation as me, a year older and from a town 10 miles up the road from where I live, so that's inevitable

But I'm not a Button basher either - But it will be very boring if Button and Brawn have both championships wrapped up half way through the season. But we've been spoilt with two seasons of nail biting, last race deciders, that has to break at some point.

[freedom_honda]

I find it quite funny many people are saying "its just the car". How do you know Lewis is really that good? Maybe "its just the car"? (no offense to the Hamilton's fan. I have nothing against him im just making an example) I'm sick of people making the its just the car comment. Schumi wouldnt have won 7 championship if the car weren't good enough. And i doubt Senna would won a race in the RA107/RA108. And lets not forget Button was once the youngest point scorer in F1, and the record was only broken by the highly praised Vettel. And Button was setting fastest lap after fastest lap in Hungary and was right on Alonso's tail before Alonso has pitted and crashed.

I dont know whether Button is as good as Alonso or Schumi. In fact no one knows because Button NEVER got the right car to prove it to the world. Lets not forget we are only one and a half race into the 2009 season, and people are already making conclusions about Button. I know im a Button fan so im a bit biased, but i believe Button's performances in Australia and Malaysia deserves some recognition.

[DaveKillens]

This diamond in the rough has been obscured by the dirty covering of two year's worth of underperforming cars. Finally, he's got a car good enough to display his abilities, and has done very well. Of course, each and every driver worthy of consideration for F1 is darn good, much better than almost everyone else. So just to be in such company speaks well of his abilities.
It can be argued if even right now it's him or the car, but compared to his teammate, he's done much better. And for anyone to win a Grand Prix, it's a very special accomplishment, something very few mortals realize. You have to be very good to win, and even better to win when things aren't going perfectly. Yesterday was a very good example, with many opportunities to screw up. But Button and his team kept their heads, and made the correct decisions.
While I was watching the last two races, Button's control of the race reminded me of Michael Schumacher. There was a lot of similarities between the two. Just like Michael, he took the better car to the pole, as he was supposed to do. And during the race, he stayed on top of the car and tires, and managed everything properly. A well done, professional job.
Let's face it, a really crappy car like the Honda of '07 and '08 would make anyone look bad. But when finally given a respectable ride, he maximizes the car as he well should.