Jenson Button to partner Fernando Alonso in 2013?

JRS said:
McLaren need to get their **** together and offer him a proper contract, put all this speculation to bed.
Click to expand...

Why?

Button is much nearer the end of his career than Hamilton. Theres no point in tying them both in long term contracts to then miss out on a young up and coming driver who appears on the market.

Its in McLarens interest to keep Button on short term contracts, as should they spot another driver they want, he is the one they will get rid of.

Exactly the same as RBR/Webber. And I expect Ferrari/Massa.
 
I didn't mean a long-term contract necessarily, Skeeter. Just one that pays him what he's worth in the team and leaves the options open to keeping him as a McLaren employee when he decides to stop racing F1 cars.

They'd certainly regret losing him to another team, IMO.
 
Ferrari made a clear statement in giving Alonso a stupidly long contract, he'll always be their #1. Quite frankly I think Button would just flounder around behind Alonso in a car like Ferraris anyway, Alonso gets a lot from a car that isn't that great, Massa seems to suffer with pretty poor results compared.

Even though, it's probably every drivers dream to sit in that red car and have a prancing horse badge on your steering wheel.
 
Firestar_3x said:
Lewis is a crybaby for different reasons, Alonso was only upset because the spotlight wasn't on him.
Click to expand...

I guess you are talking about 2007? he was upset his team was racing against him and had to have an independent FIA observer in his garage to stop his team messing with his tyre pressures, no wonder he was upset :)

Lewis is a crying little baby about his team every time he does not perform.
 
Skeeter said:
Its in McLarens interest to keep Button on short term contracts, as should they spot another driver they want, he is the one they will get rid of.
Click to expand...

Even if JB beats Lewis in the championship - which he has a great chance of doing?

I cant believe you just compared JB's level of performance to Massa and Webber (the latter two who are being slaughtered by their team mates)

ins0mn1ac said:
Quite frankly I think Button would just flounder around behind Alonso in a car like Ferraris anyway
Click to expand...

laughs -just like most expected him to flounder agianst Lewis.......except that hasnt happened has it!!!
 
Last edited:
FrankJH said:
Even if JB beats Lewis in the championship - which he has a great chance of doing?
Click to expand...

Coming 3rd and 4th... yeah, even then.

Lewis is the McLaren golden boy with 10-15 years of F1 left in him. Button is much further into his career with much fewer years left. If McLaren had to drop one of their drivers, it would be JB, every time.

As such, they keep JB's contracts short, keeping their options open.

I cant believe you just compared JB's level of performance to Massa and Webber (the latter two who are being slaughtered by their team mates)
Click to expand...

I didn't. That comment was not a comparison in performance levels, it was a comparison in terms of team structure and contract situations.

Webber is on 1 year contracts compared to (I expect) long term contracts for Vettel
Alonso is on a 5 year deal compared to Massa's 1 year current contract

McLaren do not want both Button and Hamilton on 5 year deals, otherwise they may end up in the Ferrari/Kimi position of wanting to sign a new driver, but having 2 already signed up.

Button is performing great and is easily matching Hamilton, but regardless of that, McLaren, Button, Lewis, and us lot, all know that he is the driver they will drop if they want to sign someone else. You can only do that (easily) if you keep that driver on 1 year contracts.
 
Skeeter said:
Coming 3rd and 4th... yeah, even then..
Click to expand...

1 stly Ferrari's are going backwards (due to harder tyres issue) - I really doubt Alonso can keep hold of 2nd

Either McLaren can take 2nd place, JB would be nearly out of site if the team hadnt let him down in Germany and England (not to mention the qualifying in Italy, where he could possibly have won given his race performance)

Skeeter said:
Lewis is the McLaren golden boy with 10-15 years of F1 left in him. Button is much further into his career with much fewer years left. If McLaren had to drop one of their drivers, it would be JB, every time.

As such, they keep JB's contracts short, keeping their options open..
Click to expand...

JB still has a good 4 - 5 years left, thats a good chunk of time that he can get valuable points for the team (if not a championship run given a decent enough car) that a rookie could well throw away

Its only you who is saying McLaren HAVE to chose between one or the other - there are viable other options (one of which I indicated just above)

Its VERY rare that out of a team you get rid of your better performer - and offering a short length contract is one sure way to do that!!!

Skeeter said:
I didn't. That comment was not a comparison in performance levels, it was a comparison in terms of team structure and contract situations.

Webber is on 1 year contracts compared to (I expect) long term contracts for Vettel
Alonso is on a 5 year deal compared to Massa's 1 year current contract..
Click to expand...


Well actually you did - whether you meant to or not , the fact is that in the last 12 months Lewis has retired 9 times , majority because of his mistakes. JB has had less than 1/2 of that, and at least 2 of those where team rather than driver issues.

JB is also proving that he can outrace Lewis in different conditions (rather than just while its raining) - so to become the complete package he needs to cut out the errors on Saturdays and he would be slaughtering Lewis left right and centre.

Webber is also older than Button and proving he cant match Vettel (same with Alonso /Massa) , so completely different scenarios (and both have been in the respective teams longer than JB has as McLaren)
 
MrLOL said:
I think with ferraris heritage, most F1 drivers dream of driving the red car with the prancing horse on.
Click to expand...

That almost goes without saying.

What driver wouldn't want to drive for Ferrari?

Driving for Ferrari is the equivalent of a footballer wanting to play for Manchester United, Barcelona, Real Madrid, etc. Every sportsman dreams of moving to the teams (in any sport) which have the biggest reputation/history.

Personally, I don't think he will join as I can't see him officially agreeing to drive as No.2.

McLaren
Personally, I don't know what McLaren are playing at. They firstly allowed 2 drivers in 2007, to go head to head and take points away from one another, which resulted in a title loss. They then got rid of what most believe to be the best driver in F1. They then hire a chump, who can barely scrape a top 6 finish, while their other driver wins the race. They then bring in Button (a good move), but then have no (strong) team orders in place, so that both drivers are taking points away from eachother. While all this is going on, their design team is found wanting, compared with RedBull who are basically steam rolling over them. Nothing is being changed to deal with McLaren's problem of starting out with a slow car and playing catchup for the entire season.

Ferrari
At least with Ferrari, they are putting plans in place to handle RBR. They first hired the best driver in F1. They then ensured that he got No.1 status and that Massa will support his team-leader. They have made several changes within the design team hierarchy in order to improve things, to give Alonso the best chance of winning the title. Ferrari are the team who have a better chance of moving forward, as they have at least acknowledged that changes have to be made. McLaren are just "hoping" for the best.

Hamilton
One thing I do not understand is that Hamilton believes that he must win world titles (as does Alonso). Alonso is creating a team around him and is preparing for a major fight in 2012 and onwards. Vettel is in currently the best time in F1. Hamilton on the other hand is hanging on to a team, which have a poor track record, compared with the other leading teams. If I were him, I would be fighting tooth and nail to schmooze RBR into giving him a seat for 2013 (he has missed his chance for 2012). He even acknowledges that in 2012, McLaren are likely to start behind RBR...again.
 
I honestly Can't see Hamilton going anywhere really, While Vettel continues to dominate so easily I can't see RBR wanting to upset the balance just yet, It will take one Ferrari or Mclaren to close the gap massively to make RBR change tact.

Button going to Farrari? I can't see it either, He is on the brink of breaking Hamilton and making Mclaren his for a few seasons at least? If any driver a Mclaren can help develop that car to compete with RBR it's going to be Button.
 
sunama said:
McLaren
.....They then bring in Button (a good move), but then have no (strong) team orders in place, so that both drivers are taking points away from eachother. While all this is going on, their design team is found wanting, compared with RedBull who are basically steam rolling over them. Nothing is being changed to deal with McLaren's problem of starting out with a slow car and playing catchup for the entire season.

Ferrari
At least with Ferrari, they are putting plans in place to handle RBR. They first hired the best driver in F1. They then ensured that he got No.1 status and that Massa will support his team-leader. They have made several changes within the design team hierarchy in order to improve things, to give Alonso the best chance of winning the title. Ferrari are the team who have a better chance of moving forward, as they have at least acknowledged that changes have to be made. McLaren are just "hoping" for the best.

Hamilton
One thing I do not understand is that Hamilton believes that he must win world titles (as does Alonso). Alonso is creating a team around him and is preparing for a major fight in 2012 and onwards. Vettel is in currently the best time in F1. Hamilton on the other hand is hanging on to a team, which have a poor track record, compared with the other leading teams. If I were him, I would be fighting tooth and nail to schmooze RBR into giving him a seat for 2013 (he has missed his chance for 2012). He even acknowledges that in 2012, McLaren are likely to start behind RBR...again.
Click to expand...

It would be interesting to know how many points McLaren have actually risked by "allowing" JB to race for wins equally with Lewis

I cant see it being that many to be fair - or rather, McLaren as a team would have lost a lot more points/positions your way round , rather than how it has actually happened (remember of course, they dont actually that often finish positionally nose to tail - even accounting for the fact that this wouldnt allow for time differences , ie JB could have been close to winning with Lewis far behind in third)

Compared to Ferrari, McLaren are doing very well indeed this year (and no one yet knows what will happen next year, so little point discussing it just yet) from a team championship - and Alonso isnt out of reach of either McLaren driver (and the Ferrari car isnt exactly without its own issues to say that both couldnt finish above him come the final tally) - so what are McLaren doing wrong again?

Of course the RBR is the best car on the grid bar none, there is only 1 Adrain Newey and that shines through obviously yet again. until Aero counts for a lot less, He will ALWAYS be the biggest benefit to any team he joins (given the timescales needed ) - Its quite surprising how far back Mark is in comparison, THIS is why he is probably only on a 1 year renewal (Im SURE if he was coming in 2nd a lot more regularly he would be getting longer renewals)
 
FrankJH said:
laughs -just like most expected him to flounder agianst Lewis.......except that hasnt happened has it!!!
Click to expand...

Granted, he's in a good car, which is my point. Ferrari has been very hit an miss this season but Alonso still manages to squeeze decent results from it, but Massa doesn't? Plus the whole Lewis being behind Jenson this season thing is purely down to some pathetic overtakes and some frankly terrible luck. If it werent for so many DNFs he'd be ahead of him on the drivers table. Oh, I'm more of a Button fan too so not just another fanboy from Hamiltons side singing his praises :p
 
FrankJH said:
Compared to Ferrari, McLaren are doing very well indeed this year (and no one yet knows what will happen next year, so little point discussing it just yet) from a team championship - and Alonso isnt out of reach of either McLaren driver (and the Ferrari car isnt exactly without its own issues to say that both couldnt finish above him come the final tally) - so what are McLaren doing wrong again?
Click to expand...

I think I made it very clear.

McLaren are not favouring one driver of the other, which is forcing 1 driver to take points off another.

The Canadian incident didnt need to happen. Had team-orders been in place, that accident just wouldn't have happened.

At the current rate of improvement, Vettel is developing into a better driver than Hamilton. What this will soon mean is that for Hamilton to win a title vs Vettel, he will have to be in at least an equal car...if not better car than Vettel. If RBR keep producing better cars than McLaren, Hamilton has virtually no chance of a title.

At least Ferrari are making changes to their strategies/staff, etc and have Alonso who right now, is probably the only driver capable of fighting with Vettel, in a slightly inferior car.

Hamilton's best chance of a title win is to join Vettel and completely disrupt him. Shake him up and upset him mentally. He can only do this, if he is in the same team as Vettel.

For the record, I still believe Hamilton will outscore Button by the end of the season.

On a separate note: I actually feel that Hamilton has gone backwards, having peaked in 2010, as a driver. The prodigious speed is still there, but he is now making errors, which he wasn't making in 2010.
 
sunama said:
If I were him, I would be fighting tooth and nail to schmooze RBR into giving him a seat for 2013 (he has missed his chance for 2012). He even acknowledges that in 2012, McLaren are likely to start behind RBR...again.
Click to expand...

I think it's worth bearing in mind that Hamilton has been with McLaren essentially since he was a kid, they've always been there. His attitude to being a McLaren driver vs being a Ferrari/RBR driver is likely somewhat distorted by such a presence throughout his entire development, both as a driver and as a person.

McLaren has been his life and I think it would take more than anyone else for him to leave that team. He won't be viewing it as objectively as you, he'll be seeing it emotionally (be that to his detriment or otherwise).
 
There is no way Mclaren (or any time in their right mind!) would drop Lewis for Button.

Not that that is the situation we are faced with here, but still.
 
Frank, why not just claim the whole thing is a conspiracy. That's your usual defence.

But being serious, if what your saying was true.... why is Button on a 1 year contract?

The facts speak for themselves.
 
Perez will end up at Ferrari, everyone can see it coming.

In McLaren. I'd really like to see Aidrian Sutil join ( It will never probably happen but i'm a fan :D)

Realistically McLaren will probably go after Nico Rosberg if they ever got rid of Button.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom