Is Jenson Button Elite?

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Is JB now an elite driver?

  • Yes

  • No

  • Unsure

Results are only viewable after voting.
Forza Ferrari said:
If I were to split the drivers into 4 tiers, Button would be in the top tier. In that sense, he is "elite". However, if he was in the same car as Vettel or Alonso, I think he would struggle to beat them.
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Actually, I don't think he'd find it more difficult than his current pairing with Hamilton.
 
Frank totally ballsed up the Mansell saga too, First by signing Prost and then by essentially trying to force Mansell to take a cut in pay by threatening to sign Senna along side Prost in '93.

Prost having a clause in his contract preventing any possibility of driving alongside Senna at Williams soon put a stop to that... Leaving Frank with egg on his face and attempting to smooth over matters with Mansell as he's announcing his retirement.

Also took Montoya over Button... You could call that another balls up.
 
What was wrong with Montoya? He was/is pretty fast isn't he? Being a Schumacher "fan" I was cheering for Ralph hoping he would rise to his brothers standards but now after a while I kind of miss Montoya in F1. He was exciting to watch.
 
cosicave said:
Sam: that's a great question…

Frank Williams had decided that he "needed a 'Schumacher' to beat a Schumacher" after the dastardly Adelaide incident which robbed Hill of his first World Championship - which neither he nor the team protested in light of more important matters; i.e. facing manslaughter charges over Senna's death.
Rumour has it that as early as the start of 1995, he had already lined up Frentzen (perhaps even signed the contract), to whom Williams apparently gave credence for reports that he was widely regarded as faster than Dick Dastardly; concluding that this was the man for the job to replace Hill at the end of his contract, which ran through to the end of the 1996 season; but that he had made these arrangements without seeking the approval of co-founder of the 'Williams' team: Patrick Head.
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Although still comfortably out-scoring team-mate David Coulthard by over 40% more points, by his own admission, Hill's '95 campaign was not his best and Frank's mind was apparently already made up (there are suggestions that Frentzen's contract was in fact already signed). During '96, it was clear that Hill was unquestionably world class; and in spite of scarcely believable rumours, he felt that "all he needed to do" to retain his drive was to win the World Drivers' Championship: simplicity itself for a man with such inner belief! It is said that as the season unfolded, Wrank Filliams began to see he'd underestimated his hard-working and determined leading driver but Frentzen was already a done deal. With a third of the season still left to run and in the midst of his epic battle, Williams cruelly broke the news to Damon Hill - who said that he felt he was the very last person to find out!
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This messy ordeal, and the manner in which it was conducted, almost saw Patrick Head splitting with his business partner: a man he thought he'd known better. Through similar disbelief, a great many of the team's top people took up employment elsewhere. These were people who'd worked with Hill and had been in awe of his development work and unmatched technical feedback. On top of this, they had come to see a real world class racer emerge from the double trouble of '94, who'd courageously dealt with the Senna aftermath and overcome the repeated insults of Schumacher M.
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Wrank (now Sir Frank) has since admitted that it was probably his worst single decision in motor racing. Indeed, there is no more defining moment for what was to become the start of the team's slide to obscurity. In '97, Villeneuve simply inherited the masterpiece of the Hill team effort and his attempt to lead continued development of it fell apart at the seams. He simply couldn't do what Hill could, and the young Villeneuve faded away*.

In spite of all this, Damon Hill kept his dignity throughout. He's a proper bloke…
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*By contrast, Hill had made his F1 début a couple of months before his 32nd Birthday!
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Great article cosi, shows that frank williams can make rookie mistakes too.
 
I think Jenson is getting just a bit too much credit this season: saying he could beat Alonso over a season? Madness if you ask me but whatever. I think he's benefiting less from being fantastic(not to say he hasn't been very good) but rather how poor his highly rated teammate as been. I think we'll evaluate at the end of the season. If Lewis is say 10 points clear at the end of the season despite his massive howler of a season would this post still be a pretty unanimous yes? It could easily happen, it'd require Lewis scores on average 19/6 points more than Jenson... hardly impossible.
 
New to this forum but really wanted to join due to my interest in F1 although I can't understand why everyone is rating Alonso so much higher than Button. It seems most people on this forum thinks he is superhuman, but I think Button is better than Alonso by a long way, Hamilton once he got to grips with f1 made easy work of the 2 time champion and it got to Alonso which was very embarassing. Even last year he was still throwing tantrums about petty things, and considering Button can outperform one of the fastest racers something Alonso could'nt how can you justify your arguments that Button is'nt up there whereas Alonso is the best on the grid?
 
Jordan said:
New to this forum but really wanted to join due to my interest in F1 although I can't understand why everyone is rating Alonso so much higher than Button. It seems most people on this forum thinks he is superhuman, but I think Button is better than Alonso by a long way, Hamilton once he got to grips with f1 made easy work of the 2 time champion and it got to Alonso which was very embarassing. Even last year he was still throwing tantrums about petty things, and considering Button can outperform one of the fastest racers something Alonso could'nt how can you justify your arguments that Button is'nt up there whereas Alonso is the best on the grid?
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Alonso is a driver who finishes ahead of the car in nearly every season, he's consistantly incredible putting the car where it shouldnt be and keeping it up there. He had the second best car in 2010 and was ahead before the last race. Button was behind his teammate by a significant margin. Alonso has been matched by only one teammate - Lewis Hamilton, a man who destroyed Button last year. Admittedly this mare of a season has put Button ahead of Hamilton, but I doubt it'll last. Button is good, very good in fact, but Alonso is fantastic; perhaps an all time great. Just look at this season's stats. Alonso is second, ahead of both McLarens in a slower car. Admittedly Lewis' ******ation aside he should be above Alonso... but Alonso has been fantastic.
 
Alonso did very well last year but the Ferrari was strong in the second half of the season and he basically had a non existent team mate to ompete against, although he had much better drives than either mclaren drivers but I never said he was'nt talented just difficult to compare in different cars.
 
Jordan said:
Alonso did very well last year but the Ferrari was strong in the second half of the season and he basically had a non existent team mate to ompete against, although he had much better drives than either mclaren drivers but I never said he was'nt talented just difficult to compare in different cars.
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Personally I'd say Lewis was a better driver than Alonso throughout 2010 but otherwise I agree with you. He had a quick car when times were going badly for RBR but on all evidence present I think it's fair to say Alonso is more talented than Button.
 
McLarenDan said:
I think Jenson is getting just a bit too much credit this season: saying he could beat Alonso over a season? Madness if you ask me but whatever. I think he's benefiting less from being fantastic(not to say he hasn't been very good) but rather how poor his highly rated teammate as been. I think we'll evaluate at the end of the season. If Lewis is say 10 points clear at the end of the season despite his massive howler of a season would this post still be a pretty unanimous yes? It could easily happen, it'd require Lewis scores on average 19/6 points more than Jenson... hardly impossible.
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I think you are forgetting that Button has had two DNFs this season which were not his fault and robbed him of 25/30 points. If he had the same reliablity as his rivals then he would be second in the WDC.
 
Mifune said:
I think you are forgetting that Button has had two DNFs this season which were not his fault and robbed him of 25/30 points. If he had the same reliablity as his rivals then he would be second in the WDC.
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Possibly, but he also took Alonso out in Canada and where would he finish? Either way ifs buts whens whos, this is by far Button's best season and I'd still say Alonso's been superior. Button's good but he's not Alonso good. Alonso is the most likely candidate for the best driver in the field not least because he has raw speed Button could only hope for matched only really by Hamilton, and maybe Vettel.
 
McLarenDan said:
Possibly, but he also took Alonso out in Canada and where would he finish? Either way ifs buts whens whos, this is by far Button's best season and I'd still say Alonso's been superior. Button's good but he's not Alonso good. Alonso is the most likely candidate for the best driver in the field not least because he has raw speed Button could only hope for matched only really by Hamilton, and maybe Vettel.
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I never said Button was better than Alonso: I think Alonso is the best driver on the grid.
 
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