So like every year since the ban on testing (2009,2010 and 2011) their big upgrade is coming in Germany. On the plus side free practice is likely to be wet in Silverstone but then again the same can be said for Hockenheim. Impressive stuff from Red Bull to bring theirs 2 races before McLaren.
Mclaren can now adjust the heat transfer from the front brakes to the tyres as well as the rear ones. please log in to view this image
Mclaren will have a new bodywork concept at the rear of the car for Germany according to autosport http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/101101
I am praying there is no rain in Germany. I want to see if these upgrades work, 1 hour of free practice is not enough time to test updates and this is why I think they struggled more than most. The car was already poorer than most and they suffered again.
Just a thought, is Button now realistically out of the WDC i mean he is a whopping 79 points off Alonso now with 7 drivers ahead of him. So with that in mind do McLaren now put all their eggs in one basket and develop the car to Hamilton's needs? Personally i have never really been in favour of pandering so far towards one driver but with McLaren losing ground quickly to RBR and Ferrari might it be necessary?
I like Button but for me he is not good enough to compete at the top. He is slowing down Mclaren's progress and ruining his and Lewis' chances of winning the WDC.
McLaren won't back one driver till the other is mathematically out of the Championship. Unfortunately by then the 'lead' driver will probably be realistically out of the Championship anyway. I applaud their fairness with giving both drivers a chance but I wish they wouldn't wait until one is mathematically out of it before backing the other.
You think Button who is a World Champion and came 2nd in the WDC last year is not good enough to compete at the top?
Yep. Most drivers who compete at the highest level can drive around problems, he is not one of them. In 2009 he nearly threw the championship away, in 2011 he had the blown diffuser on his car which for the type of driver he is made it easier for him to set up the car than this year. He has slowed down Mclaren's progress this year because he can't find the balance, if he didn't have these problems then the upgrades Mclaren are bringing would have been brought to earlier races and they may not have been in this mess.
Because that's how Button's driving at the moment. Also, correct, he won a race, in what was at the time the fastest car, he's subsequently scored 25 points, crashed into Karthikeyan, failed to get out of Q3, etcetera. There comes a time when you stop looking at potential ability and what he's done in the past and have to look at what's happening now.
An entirely pointless graph of how McLaren are performing compared to last year. please log in to view this image
How did he almost throw the championship away? He won it in the second fastest car. Everyone had the blown diffuser, so what if it helped him more (which is very debatable)? Cars without the blown diffuser will suit other drivers more, cars with the Pirelli tyres will suit some drivers more, cars with certain aero parts on will suit some drivers more, etc, etc. What is your point? And what evidence do you have that Button is slowing down Mclaren's progress? Also not forgetting that Button is more sensitve to the car than Hamilton is so is better at judging new parts, whereas Hamilton just drives around problems which makes it harder to tell if updates are an improvement or not. If you think Button is not good enough because he is going through a patch of bad form at the moment then I trust you also thought that Hamilton was not good enough last year when he too was going through some bad form? Hmmmm.....
So you think it wise to judge drivers just on current form? If so then do you agree that Webber is the best driver on the grid? Yeah you are right, I mean look at Hamilton last year; numerous crashes and mistakes, getting beaten over the season by Button, who apparently is not good enough. Hamilton and Button out of F1! please log in to view this image