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A tale of TWO BRITISH WORLD Champions |
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By Kunal Shah |
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F1 has always been a battle of men and their machines – different teams, their drivers and their machines. However, another tremendously exciting element in F1 is the intense battle between teammates – two guys fighting it out with the same machinery. The days of Prost and Senna zoom to mind when I think of teammate rivalries, and then to the much more recent battles between the likes of Coulthard-Hakkinen, Alonso-Hamilton, and of course Schumacher and whoever!
F1 2010 has spurred talk of teammate battles much before it even started. Unusually, this year, most teams have drivers of the same nationality, and this generated headlines before the action even started on track. But once it did, the talk of pitching one teammate against the other only intensified – Rosberg vs. Schumacher, Vettel vs. Webber, Alonso vs. Massa, and, of course, Button vs. Hamilton. Admittedly, the most studied teammate comparison is in the McLaren garage
this season.
After a long time, we’ve had an F1 team with two World Champion teammates – Jenson Button, the reigning F1 Drivers World Champion, and Lewis Hamilton, the 2008 F1 Drivers World Champion. The storyline is stirring indeed –
a tale of two World Champion teammates!
McLaren’s prodigy, Lewis Hamilton, debuted in 2007, and almost won the F1 Drivers title straight away. With his obvious talent and impeccable driving, he not only won over his new team, but also the hearts of the British media. Hamilton’s dominance and acceptance in the team was such that the then World Champion, Fernando Alonso, found it difficult to get a foothold in the Woking-based team. So much so that even after a competitive season with Mclaren in 2007, he quit the team. While pace was certainly not the reason, Hamilton’s bonding with the team surely was. After all, Lewis was Mclaren’s prodigy, and part of their driver training program since the age of 11. A firm footing indeed.
This firm footing was exactly what made his critics dissuade Jenson Button from joining the McLaren stable. And when he still did – they predicted his doom. ‘Jenson will be exposed, Lewis will wash him out, Jenson’s career will be over,’ and more such woeful predictions. But just four GPs into the season, Button has not only won
more races than Lewis (2-0), but also the hearts and minds of the McLaren management – not to mention the British media all over again. An intriguing tale of two British World Champions
it is!
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Jenson Button, now aged 30, debuted in Formula1 way back in 2000 with the Williams F1 team. While his debut wasn’t as spectacular as Hamilton’s, he showed consistent pace throughout the season and impressed one and many in the paddock. He saw through the worst of his career during his Renault, BAR and Honda days with a car that was barely competitive. His best season, of course, was last year, when his Brawn GP team suddenly had an innovative diffuser that allowed them to zoom past their rivals.
Though 2009 was his most successful year, it was also a
year during which he had to endure speculation surrounding his talent, and his ability to defend his early lead – resulting in him winning the world championship in the end. While many critics credited the car more than the driver, team boss Ross Brawn’s comment is still cemented in my mind. He compared Jenson’s talent as a driver on par with Michael Schumacher – heavy praise, heavier expectations!
Heavy expectations is what he arrived with at the McLaren garage. His pre-season testing times were not on par with Lewis – many claiming that he was still finding his feet in the team. And while he probably hasn’t exploited the true potential of his MP4-25 as much as Lewis – Lewis has overtaken more drivers than anyone else this season – but with his win in China, Jenson has clinched more races than any driver this season! A perfect way to defend your world title.
Jenson has won two of the four GPs this season. And he’s won these races without having the best car under him. He’s won these races while his team-mate was out on track either weaving unnecessarily or playing bumper cars in the pit lane. His mature driving has shown not just Mclaren but the F1 community at large his skills over Lewis Hamilton. He might lack the raw pace of Hamilton, but he’s certainly got more experience and maturity under his belt. The highlight of his race wins this season has been his strategy – namely his tyre choices.
Australia and China were both wet races – races where intermittent rainfall made the race victory a lottery. Both these races rewarded drivers who could read the conditions better and faster, and therein make the correct tyre choice. Both times, Jenson’s bold decisions to switch tyres (slicks to inters or vice versa) won him the race! Both times also, it was Jenson (even before Schumacher) who read the conditions correct and made their tyre changes before the entire F1 fleet, who of course were happy to follow suit.
Jenson’s inherent ability to read and adapt to the conditions makes him a more complete driver than Lewis. In both GPs, he had the guts to not only switch his tyres against his teams’ advice, but also survive the switch. Remember his off-track excursion at Turn 3 in Albert Park where he was on racing slicks on a wet track? Jenson might lack the clinical precision and approach of a Lewis Hamilton at McLaren, but it’s his racing instinct and gut that will aid him in his fight against his teammate. What it will also offer us is some exciting races from an otherwise boring (intentionally so) McLaren team.
2010 will be an interesting tale of two mighty F1 World Champions – stay tuned!
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Kunal Shah is a former racer, and currently works with Sport18 – a division of Network18. Send him your views at kshah@autox.in
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