IF!!! The Mclarens stay up there. Is it what we all want?

I have been waiting for a season to see the lewis v button match up at the front!

dont care which one wins out, but from a british pride perspective its what i have been waiting for!

Whats everyone elses thoughts.

A match up you want to see or not?

Also i feel as though Vettel in a lesser car will truely show if he is a legend of the sport or just a brilliant front runner.


Off course the way things change in F1 it may not pan out this way. However i am looking forward to this season- gonna be going to spa,budapest and possibly silverstone this year- so it would be nice to get a proper championship going!

Vettel dominated in a dominant car and it's easy to be a brilliant front runner when your in that position and comfortable with the car. The Hamilton/Button match up will be fascinating, however Lewis in my opinion will come out on top. Lewis has a speed advantage and that is crucial in terms of qualifying and grabbing pole. When Lewis is at the front in a dominant car he is untouchable, the same 'untouchable' aura that Vettel has shown for the last two seasons. Hamilton's issues last year were him tangling with other cars and having his tyres damaged by constantly competing for position in dirty air, something Vettel will experience this season. Being on pole and racing away from the field he will have no such issues and that will be fundamentally crucial. Button will need all his tactical know-how and his strategy on top form to compete with a determined, hungry and fast Lewis but it will be extremely difficult. If Button does come out on top, I will be the first to say 'well done, astonishing job and it wasnt a fluke you beat Lewis as a teammate' etc.

I actually don't want a dominant McLaren because I want to see a competitive season with multiple winners and teams. Alonso being uncompetitive is really disappointing and Raikkonen's mistake in q1 has denied us a possible Lotus lockout of the second row.

John i agree that i dont like one dominant car, I would mcuh rather have close front runners in Mclaren,Ferriari,mercedes and anyone else!

However if there is a dominant car id rather it be mclaren- not just from a british outlook. But also because it seems like the only team that allows its racers to race each other!!

I also agree that Hamilton edges button in speed.

I'm a hypocrite. I've been saying since the end of the last season that I wouldn't watch F1 again, not so much to do with the Sky deal but the fact that most of the BBC team went too (Brundle, the radio guy who's name escapes me at the moment, Slotover) but hearing about the McLaren's being 1 and 2 and RB being 5 and 6 has made me laugh. I'm going to follow it but only to see how good Seb's attitude really is. Methinks he might make a few mistakes when forced to actually race instead of drive at the front.

If one car or driver dominates id rather it be Mclaren and Lewis. But i agree it would be great to see some josling for position.

John - "If Button does come out on top, I will be the first to say 'well done, astonishing job and it wasnt a fluke you beat Lewis as a teammate' etc."

I agree, if button beats Lewis then fair play to him. But tyre management alone will not necessarily win you races, just like natural speed will not. We'll have to have a look at the end of the season.

Im actually really looking forward to seeing how Sebastien handles getting through the field. Be nice to see Webber get one over on him this season too.

For me i think Lewis has had a bit of a reality check and got his act together. A bad year is always healthy as it stops drivers getting compacent.

The worrying thing for Lewis is that Button was not far behind him in qualifying. Button is normally much faster in the race than in qualifying; Lewis would beat him hands down for speed but Button is more tactical in the race. I think it will be a good race between them and if they dominate the whole season, yes it wouldn't be too exciting for the neutral but I wouldn't complain. Only Brits could complain about their fellow countryfellows possibly dominating a sport!!

Bonjourno!

Mclaren want Hamilton to sign a new contract so the only driver they will be backing to win now is Hamilton. You can tell that by Ron Dennis' presence in the garage today.

Jenson Button MBE is going to find out all about team orders this season just so they can have the Mclaren golden child attempt to win his second WDC.

Hamilton will now be entitled to all the updates before his team mate in a bid to get him to sign. How sad...

I think Lewis has taken something on board in regards to tyre managment. He's said himself recently that he's now knows there are times to push and when to manage the tyres - hopefully this means he'll be concentrating on managing tyres when needed.

If Lewis is successful in managing his tyres better then he could be hard to beat. The cars this season are less grippy, this could work against Button as Lewis doesnt mind the cars back end stepping out so much where as button doesnt. Only time will tell really

EDIT - Once again AC, you've been unable to give Lewis merrit where its due - which today it is. Going on about Lewis now being backed more so he can win another WDC Mclaren have always treated their drivers equally and as for him getting the updates first, thats just speculation. Regardless what Lewis does you'll find something to moan about him

Mclaren always treat their drivers equally? Absolute nonsense.

If Kovi was brought in as an equal driver to Hamilton in 2008 then I will wear a Hamilton cap and wave the Union Jack at Silverstone.

Ok, well youre entitled to your opinion - but you just sound bitter imo, after a bad day with Ferrari and you were hoping to fall back on Button beating Lewis to help cheer you up a bit.

Anyone would think Lewis has bedded your wife the way you hold something against him and are unable to give merit.

Should be a good race tomorrow regardless of the outcome.

I agree with you about the race as it should be a proper race with no one driver running away and hiding at the front.

Plus Alonso has plenty of new sets of tyres to make a come back. For some reason I dont see either Ferrari finishing tomorrow Too much effort is required to drive that car, and no driver can race amazingly well and control a bad car at the same time.

It will catch both drivers out.

Thats rather a statement AC. But i disagree, i reckon ALonso will finish - but how high? Massa, i reckon he'll have some sort of an incident if im honest.

TSC wrote:The worrying thing for Lewis is that Button was not far behind him in qualifying. Button is normally much faster in the race than in qualifying; Lewis would beat him hands down for speed but Button is more tactical in the race. I think it will be a good race between them and if they dominate the whole season, yes it wouldn't be too exciting for the neutral but I wouldn't complain. Only Brits could complain about their fellow countryfellows possibly dominating a sport!!

button alot faster?than who?he wasnt faster than lewis in the races,he just had better strategy,plus lewis kept having collisions on the track,or punctures.
anyway im sure we'll see lewis back to his best this season.its very unlikely we'll see the same lewis we saw last season if he learnt from what he did wrong on and off the track.ofcourse both drivers will rely on strategy to,so hopefully they wont mess up hamiltons or buttons.

TSC wrote:The worrying thing for Lewis is that Button was not far behind him in qualifying. Button is normally much faster in the race than in qualifying; Lewis would beat him hands down for speed but Button is more tactical in the race. I think it will be a good race between them and if they dominate the whole season, yes it wouldn't be too exciting for the neutral but I wouldn't complain. Only Brits could complain about their fellow countryfellows possibly dominating a sport!!

Lewis set that lap time on a single run, button had multiple bites at the cherry. If Hamilton has learnt when to push and when to bring the car home and take as many points as possible, he could quite easily win the world championship. His problem has always been his all or nothing approach. Hopefully he has learnt.

Its interesting to see what happens to the Rdbulls without the difffusers, lets see how good Seb really is

Well, if anyone has to dominate, I'd prefer it to be McLaren, but like a few others have said, I hope there is a healthy amount of competition and that they don't have things all their own way.

I hope Vettel wins the championship and Red Bull finish top. Lets hope its a poor season for McLaren and the two drivers they have

you dont like brit drivers then steff

Hamilton is reckless clown. I got nothing against Button but im a Red Bull fan and Vettel is my favourite driver. If us Welsh ever actually produce another F1 driver I would ofcourse cheer him on although I would hope he never drives for McLaren

so you dont like mclarean then steff?

i take it you have only just recently stared following f1 , therefore not sure what your problem is with mclarean!

Its McLaren fans I dont like. So biased

The Lions rugby team? Nah I think Lions tours are the most pointless and outdated concept in modern day sport. 4 nation ganging up on one nation just to beat them when in reality they should be aspiring to beat them themselves individually

i agree with you on the lions- sorry i took it out of my op

So you judge a driver based on ONE season. [rollseyes].

I agree Lewis made some god awful mistakes last season, wreckless im not sure, careless definately. But to then judge him on one season is damn right narrow minded - clearly you have a hatred towards him.

Other than last season, Lewis has been excellent, with the odd hiccup - which all drivers have at some point.

But, now you say its mclaren you dont like because they're biased - make your mind up.

Someone clearly doesnt know much about F1

I never said I did know a lot about F1

You need to calm down

Just becasue im not a lovely Lewis and wonderfull McLaren lover dont take it personally

the thing to understand about mclarean is that at least they seem to be the only top team that doesnt have team orders! something honorable in my opinion

No, it's worse at Mclaren. If you listen to some serious fan boys (not so much here) you would think that they are deliberately destroying Hamiltons season with bad strategy and poor pit stops.

Thats worse than team orders. Maybe he should announce he is not signing a contract and stop wasting their time.

He has a race winning car now and fans are still finding excuses for him. He just isn't that special anymore. Stardom has corrupted his talent.

alessandro this season has seemed abit odd with hamilton- however its probally just bad luck. Alot of it hasnt been his fault though has it!

Steffan wrote:I never said I did know a lot about F1

You need to calm down

Just becasue im not a lovely Lewis and wonderfull McLaren lover dont take it personally

Nothing taken personally. Id have said the same regardless of driver.

But unless you've had personal involvement with Mclaren, why the hatred???

So you dont know that much about F1 (not holding it against you), but then gain some knowledge before judging drivers you've only seen racing for a season or 2.

I dont have a hatred I just dislike them because of the biased fan boys that frequent internet forums. Maybe my post did come over a bit OTT

I have been watching F1 for about 15-16 years and while I dont have a huge amount of knowledge on the sport I know enough and I have always found Hamilton to be a bit reckless. I still think that Vettel is the most talented driver in F1 but thats just my opinion

steffan - vettel hasnt proven to be that talented other than over his team mate!!. hamilton has proved his worth in an inferior car before, alonso has even more so, so has button, schuy, raikenham etc.However Luckily for us all- red bull dont look great these days, therefore we shall see shant we!!

Why do you like red bull , and hate mclarean- what is the reason behind that?- if you have been watching for 15 plus years

Well like I said maybe hate is a bit OTT bit the fan boys put me off. Was never that keen on them year ago no particular reason though

And for liking Red Bull....well it gives you wings

Nah I dunno they just seem a cool brand plus I like the current drivers they have there

steffan you are just becoming a fan boy yourself(the worst kind- jump oin the bandwagon of a winning team). and webber is a shocking driver- you say you dont like hamilton because you find him wreakless, well webber makes him look like a driving instructor!!

Btw what did you think of senna?

mystiroakey wrote:steffan - vettel hasnt proven to be that talented other than over his team mate!!. hamilton has proved his worth in an inferior car before, alonso has even more so, so has button, schuy, raikenham etc.However Luckily for us all- red bull dont look great these days, therefore we shall see shant we!!

Why do you like red bull , and hate mclarean- what is the reason behind that?- if you have been watching for 15 plus years

How can you prove yourself to be talented in that case? have a season as a teamate of every driver on the grid?! The inferior car thing is rubbish, Vettel won in a Torro Rosso, at the time the 6th best car on the grid, he also beat Hamilton in his vastly superior Mclaren in Brazil. Except for the first half of 2009, Hamilton has had a good car for his whole career. Alonso is particularily excellent in doing great things with average joe cars.

mystiroakey wrote:steffan you are just becoming a fan boy yourself(the worst kind- jump oin the bandwagon of a winning team). and webber is a shocking driver- you say you dont like hamilton because you find him wreakless, well webber makes him look like a driving instructor!!

Btw what did you think of senna?

I would bet my house Hamilton has had significantly more crashes than Webber in the last couple of years. Just because the guy want's to support Redbull your shooting him down, i'm not keen on Hamilton either. Good driver, bit overrated based on 2007, find he comes across as arrogant although he's better now. mystiroakey i'm sure you became a Hamilton fan in 2007, surely that was just "jumping on the bandwagon" as you put it as well?

There's a thin line between confidence and arrogance. I dont think he's arrogant personally, but people are entitled to their opinions of course.

I dont understand the bit overrated based on 2007 - he was epic in 2007 adn 2008 for that matter. I wouldnt say based on those seasons he was overrated. I do think the seasons since then have somewhat numbed the hype. But thats nothing that cant be regained.

Anyway lets move on from talking just about hamilton. What about the Mercs who seem to be laacking race pace, massa who looks to be inevitably out of the ferrari seat any time now and Perez who stormed at the front?

Oh and i hear Vettel blamed Kathakayan (spell) for his puncture. No Seb you went into him. Vettel's supposed invincibility is started to weaver, i mean he doesnt look untouchable anymore now the grip has been lowered.

monty junior wrote:

mystiroakey wrote:steffan you are just becoming a fan boy yourself(the worst kind- jump oin the bandwagon of a winning team). and webber is a shocking driver- you say you dont like hamilton because you find him wreakless, well webber makes him look like a driving instructor!!

Btw what did you think of senna?

I would bet my house Hamilton has had significantly more crashes than Webber in the last couple of years. Just because the guy want's to support Redbull your shooting him down, i'm not keen on Hamilton either. Good driver, bit overrated based on 2007, find he comes across as arrogant although he's better now. mystiroakey i'm sure you became a Hamilton fan in 2007, surely that was just "jumping on the bandwagon" as you put it as well?

monty i dont have any idea what you are talking about- maybe you should look into my comment about senna as to when i started following f1.

i am not shooting the guy down in the slightest- he made the point that he didnt like ' bandwagon jumper 's' (fan boys)- i explained that he is one himself!!! i think its time you either left this debate or start poisting sensibly

Well, I guess we'll find out whether Steffan's a bandwagon-jumper or not at the end of the season, if Red Bull's fortunes haven't improved.

He's obviously a F1 newbie but we shouldn't hold that against him. We all have to start somewhere.

Critical_mass wrote:There's a thin line between confidence and arrogance. I dont think he's arrogant personally, but people are entitled to their opinions of course.

I dont understand the bit overrated based on 2007 - he was epic in 2007 adn 2008 for that matter. I wouldnt say based on those seasons he was overrated. I do think the seasons since then have somewhat numbed the hype. But thats nothing that cant be regained.

Anyway lets move on from talking just about hamilton. What about the Mercs who seem to be laacking race pace, massa who looks to be inevitably out of the ferrari seat any time now and Perez who stormed at the front?

Oh and i hear Vettel blamed Kathakayan (spell) for his puncture. No Seb you went into him. Vettel's supposed invincibility is started to weaver, i mean he doesnt look untouchable anymore now the grip has been lowered.

His comments especially around 2008 were just kinda stupid more than anything else, the "i'll never be overtaken round the outside" comment, only for Raikkonen to do it the very next race sticks out. He's not so bad now, but he doesn't really appeal to me as a person, Button seems a sound guy so i back him out of the two. I don't think he was "epic" in 2008, he had multiple problems in races as did Massa, bar the last couple in 2007 i think that was his best year comfortably F1. His performances were magnificent.

mystiroakey wrote:steffan you are just becoming a fan boy yourself(the worst kind- jump oin the bandwagon of a winning team). and webber is a shocking driver- you say you dont like hamilton because you find him wreakless, well webber makes him look like a driving instructor!!

Btw what did you think of senna?

I wouldnt really say im a badwagon jumper. Just prefere Red Bull to the rest of the teams. Wouoldnt say in a massive fan of them that much but they still have my favourite drivers

Senna was fantastic as a driver and as a charismatic sportsman and it will be a long time before the sport sees another one like him

Steffan i think red bull will be out of the limelight within a few years- F1 is engineered to make sure the big teams and/or big names rise in the long run..

The thing about likeing this new team is that it has no history. Now lotus or caterham on the other hand- thats what its all about for me- id love to see one of them rise through the ranks. red bull got lucky- they got newey- he is f1, and if other teams get there way he will leave red bull!

Newey will be making a bomb at Redbull, he's already spent long spells at Mclaren and Williams so i doubt he will be back in a hurry. Newey has been their for nigh on 6 years, so he doesn't appear to be wanting it out in a hurry. AN always seems to be much more interested in new and exciting projects rather than the history of teams.

and your point is?

Oops sorry i read your post wrong, thought you had said if a big team comes knocking he will leave.

nope but they all would take him in a shot!

Whilst Newey is a fantastic designer, he isn't the only one able to design an excellent race car.

Redbull's time in the spotlight is over. F1 goes in cycles and theirs is over

I'd love to see an Alonso vs Webber match up. I love watching these two guys race against each other. I'm a big fan of Mark Webber but I have a lot of respect for Alonso, in my opinion he is probably the best driver in F1. Although i think Vettel will once again beat Webber this season I'd really like it if Webber could make a better challenge than last year and win a few more races too.

what is it you like about webber- he is one of the worst drivers on the grid dude- alonso would tear him a new one

Belgarion of Riva wrote:Whilst Newey is a fantastic designer, he isn't the only one able to design an excellent race car.

Redbull's time in the spotlight is over. F1 goes in cycles and theirs is over

How do you know this?

Can you mail me the lottery numbers.

monty junior wrote:

Belgarion of Riva wrote:Whilst Newey is a fantastic designer, he isn't the only one able to design an excellent race car.

Redbull's time in the spotlight is over. F1 goes in cycles and theirs is over

How do you know this?

Can you mail me the lottery numbers.

I know this because I've been watching the sport for decades and seen it happen over and over again.

Regarding the lottery numbers, I'm not sharing

Come on Monty its not a secret, F1 does indeed work in cycles. At the moment Mclaren are coming to the top of the circle, where as RB are making their way down the other side.

Compared to last season it does indeed at least appear that RBs turn is over. Funnily enough this occurred when the blown diffuser was banned.

critical mclarean and ferrari are allways up there or there abouts. The other teams come and go. Red bull could in theory become another ferrari or mclarean, or they could just drop out