When his car is good, he can be untouchable, but when its not quite right, he seems to struggle to be able to work around the problems and get the best out of it. His car was perfect for him for the first half of the season, but the developments throughout the year have meant hes not so happy with it, and rather than work with it and ring its neck to get the best out of it, he seems to get stuck behind with his problems.
I would guess the tyre issue which is well documented (by Brawn himself) doesnt help a smooth driver like JB as apposed to a more "hustle" style driver like Rubens, that would be a huge issue
Also think of the safety car in Singapore stopping Button getting a 2nd (which Autosport worked out in their race report last week) - 2 * 2nd places in two races would put a different complexion on the last few races wouldnt you say? Compounded with the fact that Button was caught out again with every red flag during this weekend's quali - **** happens , nothing can be helped but the amount of new sets of tyres he used which came to nothing cant of helped......yet he still managed to outrace his team mate significantly (finishing 2 places better than he started, compared to losing a place - and without the sc he could have probably beaten him for pace)
JB has made several mistakes without doubt, but there are mitigating circumstances also imo for majority of them .....and yes JB has faultered, but to STILL be 14 points ahead after scoring comparatively little shows how much the three other title contenders *****ed up also, but its all Button's fault....is a bit of a double standard (esp when in some races the Brawn has obviously NOT been the class of the field)
and the Brawn team are starting next year back at the same level as everyone else with regards to car development. He's a great driver, no question (I know you don't agree with that). But this year is his best chance.
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Every team started at the same level last season also - yes Honda had a lot more manpower, but the ideas are what counts and the man behind them is still there, so I cant really see it as a drawback
If anything they had more problems last winter than benefits which should only help Brawn over the coming winter, not only that but they can design the car around the Merc power unit which they wherent able to do last winter (which probably means not an ideal weighting / centre of gravity to this years car)
Next year will undoubtedly start more even (I cant believe two major teams having completely fubared cars for so long like this season) but there is a chance JB could well be the dominant driver next season and get all the major driver choices around him - especially if Rubens goes to Williams as rumours continue to circulate as much.
Without KERS the Brawn and McLaren will be a lot closer to each other, so that in itself will be interesting to see who comes out top I still dont think its right to write off JB so quickly now or the forecomig seasons - Brawn has the tactical nouse 2nd to none in the pitlane and the design ideas like the 2nd diffuser to never be written off imo
I thought button got quite lucky again today what with kova and sutil having a tussle and raikonnen and heidfeld backing up Kubica who really looked like he was going to have Button.
and he wasnt very unlucky to use new tyres during every qualifying red flag period either - or be demoted on the grid two places further back than his main contender, even though they basicaly did the same thing at the same time (nose to tail), or wasnt unlucky by the red flag during the race which would have had Rosberg coming out of the pits behind him
On balance he probably still got worse affected throughout the weekend so something actually went his way (being in the right place at the right time)
Sure there are? And?
All the great champions managed to win without that kind of advantage on at least one occasion, and beat the best of the field to do it. Button has never shown that kind of talent in any other season, and hasn't in this season.
Now, maybe, in the coming seasons he'll prove me wrong, which would be nice but I severely doubt it'll happen.
The bennetton was a dog when he was in it (plus trying to compete with a Briatore managed driver in both seasons he was there) which never came close to winning - the same could be said for majority of the Honda /BAR years apart from the single win where he beat Alonso fair and square that day (and his first year, at Williams , was a reasonable car but not class of the field either
This is the first chance he has been given to actually compete for the full year so thats probably why - as with most drivers , especially the last few years, much more reliant on the cars - much harder to hustle around these cars than it was in the 80's / early 90's, much more on aero now and therefore more down to the car rather than the driver
