The McLaren conundrum

World Champion Jenson Button has left his comfortable and familiar confines of the Brawn GP team to move to McLaren and compete directly with Lewis Hamilton. For the first time in Formula 1 history the two most recent world champions are teammates. Button has shown that he feels the need to show the world that he is a deserving world champion and not just a driver in the right car at the right time. He will undoubtedly get the chance to show exactly where he stands in the pecking order of the paddock with this drive.

If all things were equal it’s fair to say that Hamilton would beat Button more often than not, he is undoubtedly the faster driver. But Formula 1 is not as simple as whoever is fastest wins, rather it’s about managing many different elements of performance and this is one area that Button has shown himself to be particularly adept. With the new regulations stipulating that there can be no refuelling during a Grand Prix, a premium will be placed on smooth driving and not wearing out the tyres too fast. A smoother driver may be able to save a pitstop during the race by taking good care of their tyres. This is Jenson Button’s strong suit, he is arguably the smoothest driver in Formula 1 today and he will reap the benefits of his style during the coming season.

Lewis Hamilton on the other hand is one of the most aggressive drivers ever to sit in a race car. He will have to adapt his style to be smoother during races and by doing so save  himself making pitstops or else he will have to drive hard and make up track time to allow for an additional stop for tyres. It will be fascinating to see how Hamilton and his engineers decide on which tactics to adopt this season.

With the new regulations in place it is not too difficult to foresee a situation whereby Hamilton has the edge on Button in qualifying but Jenson performs better in the races and beats his teammate more often than people expect. Still it would be very surprising if at the end of the year we see Button outperforming Hamilton and placing higher in the championship table. Button has gone to McLaren to showcase his ability and to show that he is not afraid to be compared to the driver generally felt to be the fastest in the sport. It’s a very brave and unprecedented move by Button; to leave the team that helped him win his world title with and move to another with a top flight driver.

This contest looks sure to captivate fans of the sport throughout the season.