I think on a personal level Whitmarsh prefers Button to Hamilton but you don't get to be in charge of McLarens F1 division by being unprofessional. It may cause some issues if he prefers Button but at the end of the day I believe he's professional enough to look after his two drivers equally in every way.
You will never reason with GUEST Canary, the only logical assumption is he isa WUM, because you can't have a reasoned discussion.
What concerns me is if Hamilton does sign elsewhere that he may find himself in a position where he is disadvantaged for the remainder of the season. How much info would they want him walking away with?
The driver pay issue is an interesting one. Rumours that Mclaren can't even match Lewis' current salary are hardly going to convince him to remain at Mclaren, especially if it means Button is paid more.
I must admit Whitmarsh didn't seem as happy last Sunday than he was in Spa, but I think this has more to do with the tension caused as a result of the contract negotiations rather than Whitmarsh favouring Button. However the McLaren mechanics are pissed off with Hamilton:
Thought I'd look up the rest of that Der Spiegel article. Interesting wording here: Telemetry: Hamilton a bit spoilt?: Money: And Fuller:
Whitmarsh speaks out: http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/102450 Perhaps most intriguingly: So apparently Whitmarsh is either a very good bullshitter or a very poor team principal. Also I'm soon going to stop being able to post articles from Autosport due to their stupid 50-article limit
Oh dear.. appears the smoke is getting quite dense now, looks like a fire is about to start in the drivers market!
Would Mercedes win the WDC in 2013 "IF" big if, Hamilton were to drive for them next year, is Hamilton the missing element that would take the Merc team forward, who should Hamilton replace, Schumacher or Rosberg, neither are outstanding performers. Personally, I don't believe Lewis will chance the move from McLaren and when it comes down to who can drive the McLaren the quickest, Lewis is the daddy, so why would RD change that, ultimately Whitmarsh has no say in the matter.
It does seem to just be James Allen, like us doing some amateur psychology, but its the first really reputable source to come out and say they believe it so a little more fuel goes on the fire Yeah i dont hide my dislike of Lewis but i think McLaren do deserve some reward for the bravery of putting Button and Hamilton in the same team.
I don't know what to make of Whitmarsh's comment on the Autosport article. Almost a small hint of backtracking on some previous comments. I'm confused.
As I said earlier in the post, we cant take it for granted that Lewis is the perfect proffessional behind the scenes and at some point that affects your value.
We can't take for granted that anybody is... We only see the face that they present to the camera. Some are probably better at changing those faces than others.
I agree Sgt nobody knows what goes on behind closed doors. I am just pointing out that there are alot of allegations levied against Mclaren and Whitmarsh soley.
If you look back at the attitude of the Der Spiegel article, it would suggest that Fuller is barking up the wrong tree if he wants to send Hamilton to the German team.