Does Button have any fans???

[av8rirl]

I've read through several F1 threads and I have come to the conclusion that Button doesn't have any/many fans... even in the UK...

Personally, I'm not a fan because Ralf had twice his points in 2000. Fisi blew him away in 2001 (4 times as many points). I just don't think he deserves to be there.

Why don't YOU like him???

[OVERSTEER]

I'm a fan of Button because although had less points than Ralf, he had less experience than him and one thing that Ralf did that Button didn't in his first season was drive everyone else off the road and crash all the time!
Fisi had spent 3 years at Benetton before Button joined and Fisi was Flav's boy we all know that.
Stop giving Jenson a hard time,on the subject of Ralf at least Button gave BMW good publicity by speeding in an oil burner Beemer, rather than Ralf who just crashed a Beemer

[kristof14]

yeah jensons a good driver he just had it easy in his first year with a team like williams, and was told by everyone how good he was. this caused him to get a bit cockey and last season was a kick in the teeth when he had a less than adequate car. but towards the end he realised he had to work hard and hopefully he'll be back on form next year.

[Ralf's Girl]

Originally posted by av8rirl
Why don't YOU like him???

I don't exactly dislike him - I just think that good seats are wasted on him. To me, he's better suited to a seat at Jaguar, not at Renault. Of course Alonso is going to get his drive anyway so it's pretty irrelevant.

(and his dad annoys me )

[f1manoz]

I detest Button to the extreme. The sooner he is out of F1, the better.

[Stephen Green]

How can anyone say 'he had it easy in his first year at Williams'? To come into Formaula 1 is never 'easy' as you put it. To do it not knowing half the circuits is even more difficult. Yes he had a bad year this year, yes he lost his way a little, but why not cut the guy some slack. We have a history of slating out top sportsmen and women in this country, while in other countries they look after them and make them feel welcome.

As Oversteer rightly says, Fisi is Briatore's protege and it wouldn't be unreasonable to suggest that he got better treatment and equipment than Button. I still believe that Button will be a different man this year and that he still has the full support of Renault with whom he did so well in British F3.

If you look back at many drivers first year or two in F1 they didn't exactly shine. Ralph is one prime example of someone who struggled in his first few years, always crashing out of races. If you look at Button last year he wasn't that far off the pace compared with Fisi who had been at Renault for three years. He also suffered more than his fair share of engine or car failures, you can't blame him for that!

[MGF]

This is crazy....

Everybody seems intent on slagging this poor fellow off, in his first year he gave a lot of drivers who have more experience (and are allegedly more mature) a damned hard time.

His second year was nothing to cheer about, an uncompetitive chassis and engine package, coupled to blatant favouritism within the Benetton camp certainly didnt help matters much.

So before all of the 'Jenson Bashers' out there start banging their drums on how bad he is and how 'good seats are wasted on him', stop to think how your favourite driver started off in his first couple of years. A couple of drivers names spring to mind who hardly set the world alight or covered themselves in glory.

[Liz]

My feelings about Bunsen were aptly expressed in the article I did for F1 Rejects. But to sum them up, I dislike him because he's more interested in flashing his wallet around (see Eddie Irvine) than making the most of his chance as an F1 driver. He also seems to be hopeless at developing a car or setting up a car, and during his time at Williams he steadfastly ignored the looming shadow of Montoya to keep on buying things and concentrating on being a playboy.

Finally, I dislike him because he dumped his pregnant longtime girlfriend to take up with Jacques' leftover supermodels. I know that has nothing to do with his driving, but it shows a nasty disposition.

[Dr. Austin]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by MGF

"stop to think how your favourite driver started off in his first couple of years."

Nigel Mansell
Mika Hakkinen
Damon Hill
Keke Rosberg

All of these guys stunk their first year and there are more if you want to go back to the 60's and 70's. Barrichello won his first race after, what, 127 starts? And Mansell went 70-something before his maiden win.

Jenson looked good in the Williams. If he doesn't get another solid opportunity after that, it is just another case of F-1 wasting good talent. What if Mansell hadn't been given so long to mature? What if Rosberg had not gotten the Williams drive? What if Damon had been stuck at Brabham? What if Mika had signed with Minardi in '95?

[Kelstea]

I think if he gets a good car he will deliver the goods.
people are being too quick to write him off give the guy a break !

[Asp]

I jsut think he's fit!!!

[Ralf's Girl]

Something to add - I don't think finishing 3rd in F3 warrants a drive with a team like Williams. Feel free to start bashing me with big sticks for saying that, but after seeing Justin Wilson win the F3000 this year and lose out on a drive to the F3 champion, I do wonder what makes F1 teams choose their drivers.

[Stephen Green]

RG, you are missing the point a little. Jenson did finish third in the British F3 but it was in a car that really didn't deserve to be there. If my memory serves me correctly the Stewart cars were first and second that year, but Jensons team mate, who was widely tipped as a superstar, was well and truly beaten by Button. Button drove for the Promatecme Team in F3 powered by Renault, hence the connection to todays drive.

I agree he didn't win the championship, but you have to look a little deeper to see why Renault like the lad so much.

Liz,

Yes he did flash his money around and behave a little like Eddie. No-one denies that, but the guy was 20/21 years old. Imagine how you or I would have reacted at his age and with that amount of money.

[enemy-ace]

Frank Williams obviously saw something, and in the end I would imagine that he has a little keener insight into what makes a good F1 driver over either you or I. I really don't have any strong feeling about Button in general, but I do think he deserves a place on the grid, all he needs is a little more development and he can be a major player. To bad he's doing it in a team with Briatore as it's Team Principle, I think for Jenson's own good it would be best for him to find another team quick.

[Stephen Green]

I totally agree with you about that. Briatore is a poor manager in my view and doesn't get the best out of his drivers. He is where he is today largely because he was with Schumacher at Benetton and not through his own achievements.

Jenson needs to be guided rather than bullied. As a father of a 22 year old myself, I think I have some expertise here!

[enemy-ace]

I think maybe that Button got some the 'Wurz' treatment (pun intended)at Benneton last season.

[Stephen Green]

Almost certainly.

[badoer fan]

Originally posted by Asp
I jsut think he's fit!!!

Just what I was thinking

[BootsOntheSide]

I'll nail my colours to the wall and say, YES, I do like him, and have high expectations of him in future. As has been said, he was 20 and suddenly had a stack of money, a home in Monaco and international fame. You can't blam ehim for occasionally losing focus. Besides, if you compare his behavious to many soccer stars in the same position (eg Patrick Kluivert, Jonathon Woodgate, Stan Collymore, Paul Gascoigne) he looks like a goody-goody. Certainly if you compare Mansell's record at Lotus to that of his longtime team-mate Elio De Angelis, or Damon being outqualified 5-2 by Eric Van Der Poele in his rookie half-season at Brabham, you can see that you don't need to make a great impression immediately to become a strong driver. He learned while he was at Renault, and by the end of the season was showing Fisichella the way, just as Montoya was to the most overrated driver in F1 (Ralf). I'm convinced that Jenson would have at least matched Ralf's pace in 2001, as compared to Montoya his rookie pace and gaps were much more consistant. Button V Montoya will be quite a scrap in eyars to come.

[BootsOntheSide]

I'll nail my colours to the wall and say, YES, I do like him, and have high expectations of him in future. As has been said, he was 20 and suddenly had a stack of money, a home in Monaco and international fame. You can't blam ehim for occasionally losing focus. Besides, if you compare his behavious to many soccer stars in the same position (eg Patrick Kluivert, Jonathon Woodgate, Stan Collymore, Paul Gascoigne) he looks like a goody-goody. Certainly if you compare Mansell's record at Lotus to that of his longtime team-mate Elio De Angelis, or Damon being outqualified 5-2 by Eric Van Der Poele in his rookie half-season at Brabham, you can see that you don't need to make a great impression immediately to become a strong driver. He learned while he was at Renault, and by the end of the season was showing Fisichella the way, just as Montoya was to the most overrated driver in F1 (Ralf). I'm convinced that Jenson would have at least matched Ralf's pace in 2001, as compared to Montoya his rookie pace and gaps were much more consistant. Button V Montoya will be quite a scrap in eyars to come.

[Asp]

Originally posted by Ralf's Girl
Something to add - I don't think finishing 3rd in F3 warrants a drive with a team like Williams. Feel free to start bashing me with big sticks for saying that, but after seeing Justin Wilson win the F3000 this year and lose out on a drive to the F3 champion, I do wonder what makes F1 teams choose their drivers.

It's a good point. From that F3 season - 3rd place man - in F1. 2nd place man (Burti) in F1. 1st place man (Marc Hynes) - struggling to find a drive anywhere. Is it fair?

[Ralf's Girl]

There's that - and then there's F3000. I mean, it's supposedly the next step down from F1, yet it often seems to be bypassed for the likes of Button and Sato coming from F3. And I just don't think that's fair when there are so many talented F3000 drivers who don't get a look in.

[Asp]

The obvious example being Justin Wilson

[mac]

I'm a bit biased, but I'd like to point out that Webber beat Button at nearly every test. Was he getting preferential treatment too? It was only towards the end of the year, when Jenson was testing all of Renault's new go-fast bits (and Mark was doing tyre tests in the old car) that Jenson sometimes edged ahead.

[Stephen Green]

RG, it doesn't always follow that you have to do F3000 to get to F1. Frank Williams and his team obviously spotted something in Jenson to take the decision to hire him. Frank has a history of hiring 'racers' since he was a pretty good driver himself at one stage. I still hold great faith in his talent spotting abilities and obviously hope that Jenson does a lot better this year.

At the end of the day not everyone shares the same opinion. Some like Jenson, others don't, that's life and we have to learn to respect other peoples opinions.