http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/formula_one/14882200.stm Wow, i never realised that Hamilton was paid double of what Button earns. Should McLaren sign Button long term, or just take up the short term option, and sort the contract issues out next season?
Long term, The guy is a good embassedor for the team who in the recent past have appeared a bit 'dodgey' he is also pushing his teammate to cracking point which is great if they want to eradicate any weakness in the team (I dont mean get rid of Lewis I mean find his flaws and improove him) and also he has a lot of info and experiance in F1. But... Im sure Jenson wants a get out clause if he is not happy at the team and made to be a #2
Interesting, I always thought they were paid the same http://www.hanzoautobuzz.com/2011/05/f1-2011-formula-one-driver-salary-list/ no mention of the source though
That must include endorsements as Lewis signed a much publicised 50M euro 5 year deal at the end of 2007, so 10M euros per year
Sign him up for another 3 seasons, he gets on well with Lewis, drives consistantly, never makes mistakes in races and picks up solid points, perfect team mate.
take up the option and add another year or 2 option to the new contract. There's no proof he will keep his new found driving style.
Obviously everybody has their price and we can debate until the cows come home about who is worth what! However, I wonder if the JB saga is just as much about Mclaren trying to prevent him going to Ferrari in 2012 and sign him up until he retires? If this is the case, then the Lewis and jenson paring becomes a nightmare for 2 reasons! Firstly, it is rumoured that Mclaren are worried about paying top, top money for 2 leading drivers and secondly, would Lewis want to sign a long term contract alongside Jenson? I am not for one minute suggesting that Lewis wants a weaker 2nd driver, but logic would suggest that being paired with a driver like jenson (on current form) will limit his WDC opportunities over the next 3-5 years, purley on the fact that they will take points of each other, whereas Alonso and Vettle may have weaker team mates from 2012/13 onwards which would give them an advantage in fighting for the WDC!!
Really good points there. The main one being that they take too many points off each other, look at Alonso and Sebastian...they're on easy street with their team mates. If McLaren want a WDC then they have to have a car that is seriously miles better than the others.
taking points off each other is irrelivant if they both score. The car is not good enough shown by the huge gap in the WCC
Its not taking points of each other as such, its that if you have roughly equal drivers in equal machinery then as a team the probability is that your cars will be fighting for the same piece of tarmac more often than not - which is a strategic nightmare. If Webber had been more equal to Vettle (as he was last year) the championship would be much closer and if Mclaren had a more dominant driver (compared to their team mate) who would have collected more points the championship would also be closer. Lets not forget that 2 x DNF's fro Button would ahve yeilded a further 25 points purley on track position (before being in a position to overtake cars in front) and an unfortunate set of events at Monaco cost a further 10 points. So I do think that in such a competitive era of F1, haveing an easier team mate could be the difference in winning or not winning the WDC!
Bando: Your first point holds true for the Constructors' Championship, but not for each driver as an individual. It is also worth mentioning that having the World Champion claim the title whilst driving your car, is ultimately considered more important - even by the team! Your second point I am in total agreement with.
Back to Button, you might find this report by Ubaid Parkar interesting: "McLaren wants to keep Button for life"
I'd have thought he is a wise chap who offers assistance in (engineering) setup areas, since Hamilton is more of a wring-its-neck driver. Latterly Hamilton does appear to be becoming wiser and gaining experience (in setup terms). In order to develop a car which is behind the best you must have a techie driver who can explain what is less than optimal. In Red Bull's case many drivers might appear brilliant when given such a superb machine.
