Brundle predicts tension in McLaren camp
18 January, 2011
Tension in Turkey as Jenson Button congratulates race winner Lewis Hamilton
Jan.18 (PVM) Respected F1 pundit Martin Brundle has predicted that there will be friction between the McLaren pairing of Lewis Hamilton and Jensen Button during the course of 2011 and believes that friendships between Formula 1 drivers are fragile relationships.
Speaking at the recent Autosport Show Brundle, himself a former McLaren driver, warned, “We have not seen them {Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button] in a head to head. They’re quite good mates, but there’s no point being that much of a mate with your team-mate, or any other F1 driver for that matter, that you are competing against. So when we see them in an absolute head-to-head I think we might find a different dynamic between the two.”
“If you look back to the Istanbul race and remember Lewis’ face on the podium when Jenson had passed him and he wasn’t expecting it, I think that is a little taster of what might happen there,” recalled the BBC commentator.
Brundle said, “I think Jenson matched Lewis better than many expected. The two victories he had were tremendous victories, and anybody would like those on their CV. Lewis is possibly the faster of the two in absolute raw speed, but Jenson was the man who got 49 laps on a set of tyres in Abu Dhabi that most parked after 11-15 laps.”
Clearly a Button fan Brundle added, “He has a way of finessing the car. I love watching him drive, because he has such an economic way to drive an F1 car, which gives Jenson a problem when the car is moving around because that is not his style. If he sorts out his qualifying he will give Lewis even more of a hard time, but Lewis was pretty much on top by the end of the year.”
Brundle believes that 2011 f1 world championship will be as tough and hard fought as in 2010, “Winning a world championship in consecutive years has proven to be quite difficult in the sixty year history of F1, but [Sebastian Vettel] has got all the hallmarks – he is a good qualifier and a good racer. If you analyse 2010 – but for some unreliability and some impetuous driving, he [Vettel]could have had that sewn up by September so it is pretty obvious, I must accept that. But [there is] Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button, Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg, the list goes on. Mark Webber will come back stronger than ever, but I think Sebastian Vettel will be harder than ever to beat for Mark.”
He added, “If Adrian Newey works his magic again then Vettel could be a very, very strong contender but there are so many changes for 2011 – KERS is coming back, the adjustable rear wing and by far the biggest is Pirelli. It will take them a little time to get their compounds and constructions right so we could see a very variable set of results in the first few Grands Prix.”
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Brundle predicts tension in McLaren camp
18 January, 2011
Tension in Turkey as Jenson Button congratulates race winner Lewis Hamilton
Jan.18 (PVM) Respected F1 pundit Martin Brundle has predicted that there will be friction between the McLaren pairing of Lewis Hamilton and Jensen Button during the course of 2011 and believes that friendships between Formula 1 drivers are fragile relationships.
Speaking at the recent Autosport Show Brundle, himself a former McLaren driver, warned, “We have not seen them {Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button] in a head to head. They’re quite good mates, but there’s no point being that much of a mate with your team-mate, or any other F1 driver for that matter, that you are competing against. So when we see them in an absolute head-to-head I think we might find a different dynamic between the two.”
“If you look back to the Istanbul race and remember Lewis’ face on the podium when Jenson had passed him and he wasn’t expecting it, I think that is a little taster of what might happen there,” recalled the BBC commentator.
Brundle said, “I think Jenson matched Lewis better than many expected. The two victories he had were tremendous victories, and anybody would like those on their CV. Lewis is possibly the faster of the two in absolute raw speed, but Jenson was the man who got 49 laps on a set of tyres in Abu Dhabi that most parked after 11-15 laps.”
Clearly a Button fan Brundle added, “He has a way of finessing the car. I love watching him drive, because he has such an economic way to drive an F1 car, which gives Jenson a problem when the car is moving around because that is not his style. If he sorts out his qualifying he will give Lewis even more of a hard time, but Lewis was pretty much on top by the end of the year.”
Brundle believes that 2011 f1 world championship will be as tough and hard fought as in 2010, “Winning a world championship in consecutive years has proven to be quite difficult in the sixty year history of F1, but [Sebastian Vettel] has got all the hallmarks – he is a good qualifier and a good racer. If you analyse 2010 – but for some unreliability and some impetuous driving, he [Vettel]could have had that sewn up by September so it is pretty obvious, I must accept that. But [there is] Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button, Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg, the list goes on. Mark Webber will come back stronger than ever, but I think Sebastian Vettel will be harder than ever to beat for Mark.”
He added, “If Adrian Newey works his magic again then Vettel could be a very, very strong contender but there are so many changes for 2011 – KERS is coming back, the adjustable rear wing and by far the biggest is Pirelli. It will take them a little time to get their compounds and constructions right so we could see a very variable set of results in the first few Grands Prix.”
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