Button doesn't need to win

[Mark]

Button has reached that point where every driver challenging for the world title wants to get to.

He's currently 26 points ahead of Barichello and 32 ahead of Vettel, with 10 races to go.

Even if Barichello won every race , with Button second. Barichello would have 135 points but Button would still win with 141 points.

[Valve Bounce]

Button has reached that point where every driver challenging for the world title wants to get to.

He's currently 26 points ahead of Barichello and 32 ahead of Vettel, with 10 races to go.

Even if Barichello won every race , with Button second. Barichello would have 135 points but Button would still win with 141 points.

What if bunsen got the swine flu and had to go into quarantine?

[CNR]

if f1 had used the Gold Medal for the race winner jenson would be close to having the championship wrapped up

[Donney]

Not that he is that far in any case....

[jens]

He doesn't "need" to win, but considering the lack of competition, he has no other choice than simply to keep winning rather than slow down and wait for others. :p :

[Sonic]

He doesn't "need" to win, but considering the lack of competition, he has no other choice than simply to keep winning rather than slow down and wait for others. :p :

LOL! He couldn't drive any slower on those last 5 laps in turkey and he was still posting 1m30s!! :eek:

[Sleeper]

I like Jensons attitude this year, get the wins and let the title take care of itslef.

[Dave B]

A couple of DNFs, whether through mechanical failure or driver error, would soon wipe out his lead. He needs to carry on with business as usual and keep aiming for wins.

[F1boat]

I agree with Dave and we all know that Ross Brawn is always gunning for victories. You are cautious when the rival has a faster car, but is far from you in the points, like Alonso in 2005.

[V12]

if f1 had used the Gold Medal for the race winner jenson would be close to having the championship wrapped up

Indeed - even those who aren't enjoying Button's dominance so far this year should at least be thankful for the wonderful silver lining that surely this idea will now be well and truly buried for good.

[maximilian]

What pisses me off is, all that talk by other teams that they may "scrap their 2009 campaigns" and concentrate on 2010. WTF? If that's the case, it's not much different than just conceding the rest of the races to Brawn. Don't these teams want to compete for race wins and positions in the 2009 standings?

Yeah, I was really happy and interested at the beginning of the seasons, to finally see some different people winning... but MAN, did that go sour quickly... I'll agree that Button makes a likable and charismatic winner/champion, but can we PLEASE see some different winners, and some CONTESTS for race wins? :p

[Hondo]

How are they going to concentrate on 2010 when the rules haven't yet been "set in stone". Max says he's open to changes and who knows what Max will do?

[Cooper_S]

He is doing what Michael Schumacher always did... go int every race going for the win... it was up to other teams/drivers to catch him and the same now applies to Jenson...

The fact so many teams are already declaring their season over only improves the chances he will continue to win each race...

[Dave B]

The fact so many teams are already declaring their season over only improves the chances he will continue to win each race...
And only increases the chances of whingers moaning that he's an undeserving champion :rolleyes:

[yodasarmpit]

There's still ten races to go, that's 100 points.
All it takes is a couple of DNF's and a poor race or two and the whole thing is wide open again, nothing has been won yet.

[AndyL]

Does anyone know what's the biggest points advantage that has ever been overhauled in the WDC? The biggest one I can think of would be 2007, when after USA Lewis was 22 points ahead of eventual winner Kimi (though only 14 ahead of Fernando).

Edit: how could I forget 1976, Lauda had a 35 point advantage over Hunt after 9 races. Of course there were exceptional circumstances there, let's hope nothing like that ever happens again, but it does show how quickly things can change.

[Cooper_S]

And only increases the chances of whingers moaning that he's an undeserving champion :rolleyes:

I know, but that won't mean they are right... Jenson has stood out this season and made many (myself included) to re-evaluate him as a driver... Good on him and good luck to him for the rest of the season.

[555-04Q2]

Button has reached that point where every driver challenging for the world title wants to get to.

He's currently 26 points ahead of Barichello and 32 ahead of Vettel, with 10 races to go.

Even if Barichello won every race , with Button second. Barichello would have 135 points but Button would still win with 141 points.

This is exactly why I hate the new points system which was designed to reel in Schumi after his runaway seasons. The system rewards the second driver too much and makes it virtually impossible to catch up a driver like Button unless reliability issues stir things up a bit.

[yodasarmpit]

This is exactly why I hate the new points system which was designed to reel in Schumi after his runaway seasons. The system rewards the second driver too much and makes it virtually impossible to catch up a driver like Button unless reliability issues stir things up a bit.


I'm in agreement that the current points system rewards the second placed driver disproportionately in comparison to the winner, but if the gap in points between 1st and 2nd were increased Button would have an even more commanding lead.

Winning 6 out 7, I don't imagine many points systems would make much difference :)

[jens]

With old points system Button would have 59 points, followed by Barrichello (24) and Vettel (23). Now, that would quite of an advantage. :p :

[ShiftingGears]

Last time I heard this "doesn't need to win" argument was in reference to Alonso's points lead in 2006. Lucky that the title chase was brilliant. Not that I think Button's going to be consistently beaten for the rest of the season anyway.

[AndyL]

Last time I heard this "doesn't need to win" argument was in reference to Alonso's points lead in 2006. Lucky that the title chase was brilliant. Not that I think Button's going to be consistently beaten for the rest of the season anyway.

That's an interesting example. Alonso had a lead of 25 points mid-season if my quick calculation is right, and although he ultimately won the championship comfortably from Schumacher, the scores were level with 2 races to go.

[555-04Q2]

And only increases the chances of whingers moaning that he's an undeserving champion :rolleyes:

I think most people know that I am not a major Button fan and unless I am blind, I havent seen anyone say he would be an undeserving champion. On the contrary, Button has been sublime for a change and Brawn GP a revelation of good design, quick car and excellent reliability which reminds me of Ferrari in the mid 2000's. If they manage to win the WDC & WCC respectively, it will be well deserved.

[Mark]

With old points system Button would have 59 points, followed by Barrichello (24) and Vettel (23). Now, that would quite of an advantage. :p :

Less so than you might think. If that were the case the 'wouldn't need to win' would not apply. As if Barichello or Vettel won every race then Button would not be champion.

[stevie_gerrard]

if f1 had used the Gold Medal for the race winner jenson would be close to having the championship wrapped up

Jwenson needs two more wins under that system for the title, and to be honest i can see him winning this weekend, so hardly a challenge for him. Hopefully We will see some reliability issues in his Brawn just to make the title race interesting.

[Firstgear]

That's an interesting example. Alonso had a lead of 25 points mid-season if my quick calculation is right, and although he ultimately won the championship comfortably from Schumacher, the scores were level with 2 races to go.

I believe Ferrari catching up was due to their exhaustive in-season development and testing. That can't be done anymore, so I expect Button to just keep widening the gap.

[AndyL]

I believe Ferrari catching up was due to their exhaustive in-season development and testing. That can't be done anymore, so I expect Button to just keep widening the gap.

Yes fair point. However for Red Bull, you could argue there isn't that much catching up to do in terms of car development - they were as fast as Brawn if not slightly faster in Bahrain and Spain, and obviously much faster in the wet in China. Their problem has been with consistently putting it all together on race weekends, strategy and so on. Those sorts of problems they could rectify without testing.
Ultimately I have to agree with your conclusion though because I don't think they will! At least not enough to pull that points gap back. If we get a few more wet races though, maybe there's just a chance...

[truefan72]

Yes fair point. However for Red Bull, you could argue there isn't that much catching up to do in terms of car development - they were as fast as Brawn if not slightly faster in Bahrain and Spain, and obviously much faster in the wet in China. Their problem has been with consistently putting it all together on race weekends, strategy and so on. Those sorts of problems they could rectify without testing.
Ultimately I have to agree with your conclusion though because I don't think they will! At least not enough to pull that points gap back. If we get a few more wet races though, maybe there's just a chance...

I would say that RBR have taken a step back, mostly due to them trying to redesign the car with a DD. I think if they had continued to tweak the car as is and develop it over the season, they might have been a bit of a challenge ( more like a pesky annoyance) to Brawn.

Toyota & Williams, on the other hand, had built in advantages vs the rest of the field to challenge Brawn. Toyota in particular have completely squandered that opportunity and are looking to be falling further back instead of closing the gap. I lay equal blame with the engineers, race strategy, and the drivers who don't seem to be getting the best out of the car (same old story for them) I think if you had Alonso, Hamilton, Massa or Kimi driving those cars, you might have very well seen podiums and occasional race wins.

Williams are another huge disappointment, no matter how you cut it, the car is quick but they seem to be lacking in race pace...we all know their issues

So Button is going to stroll to victory in the WDC, and brawn easily wins the WCC in 2004 like dominance, fittingly closing the curtain on the mosley/bernie management of the sport. I'm hopeful for a breakaway series.

[AndyL]

I would say that RBR have taken a step back, mostly due to them trying to redesign the car with a DD. I think if they had continued to tweak the car as is and develop it over the season, they might have been a bit of a challenge ( more like a pesky annoyance) to Brawn.

I think it's a bit unfair to say they've taken a step back, after all they were still way ahead of all the other opposition in Turkey. Perhaps more that they failed to take a step forward, while Brawn have done so. It'll be interesting to see at Silverstone whether that's really the case, or if the Istanbul track simply didn't favour the Red Bull car in the way that everyone expected it to.