Mon
Mar 08 2010

Jenson versus Lewis

Alan Henry
Forget Michael Schumacher and his Mercedes. Look past Fernando Alonso in his Ferrari. And don't spend more than a few seconds worrying about Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber in their Red Bulls. No Sir!

Because when the cars roll out onto the circuit at Bahrain's Sakhir circuit on Friday, the British tabloid media will be besotted with nothing else but Jenson versus Lewis and the unfolding saga of McLaren.



If I may borrow from Basil Fawlty, it's the bleedin' obvious that's going to be the problem. The fact that, from the very first session, one of them is always going to be quicker than the other.

You might think at this point that I've taken leave of my senses - temporarily or otherwise -  but the point I'm trying to make is that this will be a fertile breeding ground for the 'Red Tops' excitement.  And McLaren had better be ready for it.

Lewis faster than Jenson: "The sitting tenant is being favoured by the establishment." Jenson faster than Lewis: "The team has fallen out of love with Lewis, but this honeymoon period with their new star will soon be over."

Lewis faster than Jenson; "Ah, they've favoured him by letting him use the only one of those new wings that they've brought along this weekend."   Jenson faster than Lewis; "Oh yes, so that new wing didn't work and they've dumped it on Lewis "

I'm not for a moment suggesting that the McLaren pits will revert to the seismic battle ground experienced in the days of Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost.

But by the same token, anybody who thinks that Button and Hamilton will be staging some sort of cuddly automotive Teddy Bear's picnic needs to shape up and get real. And get out of the way to avoid being run over.

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About Alan Henry

Our F1 expert has been covering the sport since Lewis Hamilton's father was a teenager (do the maths yourselves on that one), and writing for Autocar since 1994.

Comments

Corbs March 8, 2010 1:32 PM

Alan, they should be the best of friends off track, and  bloodcurdlingly competitive on it......

I for one will be watching all year with baited breath !!!  Did someone mention some old German person, no, I don't think so ?

MattDB March 8, 2010 1:41 PM

Lets hope that they are fighting for 1st place and not 10th.  If they are fighting for wins then the winner is Mclaren as they will become constructors champs.  If they take points off each other it will be 2007 all over again and they will both 'just' lose.

pa1nkiller March 8, 2010 2:25 PM

A typical Alan Henry article - nothing to do with Schumacher but chooses to put a negative remark against him in the first sentence...

psst March 8, 2010 2:41 PM

pa1nkiller - "A typical Alan Henry article - nothing to do with Schumacher but chooses to put a negative remark against him in the first sentence..."

Please... this is merely setting the scene for the article, not being negative about him. In fact I read this as a complement, in that it is suggesting that Schumacher will really be the most important story on Friday.

Have some perspective - not everything Alan Henry writes is against Michael Schumacher.

Peter Cavellini March 8, 2010 2:55 PM

Or, has anyone thought that rattle throwing within the team(drivers)would self implode the team and ruin their"dreamteam"?

trocadero March 8, 2010 3:18 PM

It was a smart move by Jenson Button to go to McLaren.

Nearly all the press and pundits expect him to be soundly beaten by Lewis Hamilton, so the pressure is on Hamilton.

I expect there to be little or nothing between them over the whole season, hopefully Jenson ahead, but bookies think otherwise...

TheOmegaMan March 8, 2010 4:07 PM

Hamilton is more from the Hakkinen school of driving, while Button is more like Coulthard.

We know how that turned out.

BAVARIAN March 8, 2010 5:21 PM

This year it looks like MC-LAREN can be on top because they have a fine car, two best great drivers, who have have proved their potential. The perfect recipe for a constructors championship. Anyhow, i am supporting LEWIS here from INDIA and i am also going to watch F1 just to see who comes on top. JENSON or LEWIS. Only time will tell or may be next sunday will tell some part.

Leslie Brook March 8, 2010 5:30 PM

I agree with TheOmegaMan. If the new car is perfectly balanced so that Jenson can use his precise smooth driving skills to best advantage then he has a chance. If it's a bit loose and needs manhandling then I'd expect Lewis to leave him for dead.

david RS March 8, 2010 6:20 PM

The real question is who can beat Lewis on the same car?

Peter Cavellini March 8, 2010 6:42 PM

The REAL answer is, it doesn't matter because he won't always have the best car or will Button, people seem to get trans fixed on Super Hamilton like he's the next great thing, when your driving a car your only as good as the car,if it breaks down your race is over wereas if your running a marathon you physically can dictate what you do, i just wish people would remember there are other fine drivers in this sport not jusy two BRITISH ones(i am British by the way)  

pSynrg March 9, 2010 1:17 AM

@Peter Cavellini

So you are telling us that we should be following F1 like you, which is right because?

VirginPower March 9, 2010 11:15 AM

Pest - "Have some perspective - not everything Alan Henry writes is against Michael Schumacher."

That's true. He sold a paraffin heater on Loot a few years ago.

We know that McLaren seems to enjoy setting itself the extra challenge of staging internecine wars.

That's probably what they've done again. Hamilton has much more stamina for maintaining a jovial, positive demeanour, while Button, despite the forced, inane permagrin of recent times, is, at heart, a grumpy and prickly little bleeder who doesn't have dynamic answers to the technical questions that naturally arise. He is, underneath the soppiness, though, a hard nut.

On the one hand Jenson's style would seem to offer an advantage in maintaining the quality of the tyres, however, what I reckon could be the case is that an extremely changeable car, whose character will be unpredictable throughout the race as the balance of mass shifts, will be far better exploited by the mercurial Hamilton.

Schumacher too will be excellent at coping with erratic handling whilst mastering the new tactics of the tyre changes without refuelling.

This year, we will see closely competing teams reacting much more directly to each other's pit stop strategies.

davisa March 9, 2010 11:46 AM

Vodafone are going to love all the attention paid to the team whether they are are fighting it out at the front or the back. It will make the racing far more exciting then the parade we sometimes see.  

Peter Cavellini March 9, 2010 2:13 PM

Because just once in F1 or any sport for that matter a bit of unbiased reporting and less flag waving would be nice instead of stirring up what could be a bit of an anti climax.

Freelance journo March 9, 2010 7:16 PM

I think Hamilton might just have the edge, but Button will be out to build on his win.  Will Alonso split the two of them?  It's going to be great - providing they can keep the politics out.  But if we start seeing McLaren winning - and start seeing steward inquiries for this, that and the other, then F1 will be the loser.

psst March 10, 2010 12:30 PM

VirginPowerless - "Hamilton has much more stamina for maintaining a jovial, positive demeanour, while Button, despite the forced, inane permagrin of recent times, is, at heart, a grumpy and prickly little bleeder who doesn't have dynamic answers to the technical questions that naturally arise. He is, underneath the soppiness, though, a hard nut."

Are you a close personal friend of them both or their psychoanalyst?

disco.stu March 10, 2010 3:10 PM

It does seem that McHamilton do enjoy the media coverage that an inter-team spat generates for them.  

While most people would have thought that the whole Senna-Prost thing would have taught them a lesson, maybe it turns out that the lesson they learned was that it was great for publicity.  Since Coulthard failed to trouble Hakkinen, and Raikkonen showed no interest in arguing with Montoya, they were delighted with the Alonso-Hamilton fireworks and decided that Button could provide a new rivalry angle for the gullible side of the media to latch onto.

And hopefully both will get trounced by Ferrari and Schumi...

Latebreaker March 11, 2010 8:29 AM

Its going to take a different driving style to succeed this year. With full fuel tanks, tyre & brake management will be even more important this year. The smoothest driving style will do well......Jenson maybe more competitive than people think.

TheOmegaMan March 11, 2010 5:40 PM

I had a dream that Jenson won either the GP at Bahrain, Australia or Silverstone, I couldn't quite make out the circuit. Lewis took the lead with some breathtaking passes but later clipped a wall and was out, and Jenson came through to win. I have a small amount of clairvoyancy, so let's see!

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