Button - Good or Bad for Webber

[dangeradam]

Is the Jenson Button issue good or bad for Mark Webber.

You can look at it two ways, now he is the clear number 1 at williams regardless of who they choose now as anyone else will be coming in from the scrap heap is this a good thing he has never really had a team mate that has made him work for things but has always done well or would he have been better having Button pushing him on.

Thoughts on this ????

[Wrex]

Bad (sort of).

I had big hopes for next season with these 2 together. I think they are very close pace wise and would have pushed each other to the limit. Also, unlike the outgoing pait they get along very well and are'nt prone to sniping team mates regardless.

On top of that, these 2 hardworkers would have been great for Williams as a team, and the car would have developed faster with both rather than either.

And finally, I was getting tired of this "Webbers never had a good team mate" bs and was hoping we could out an end to it.

No matter, Jense will have a great year in the BAR (and may finish in front of the Willies anyway) and 2006 will be a cracker.

[RWC]

Ultimately it will probably be bad not to have these two together.
They are both VERY good at self motovation so neither really needs a fast team mate to push them on as so many seem to.....

But on the other hand they both work very well under pressure and so the competition couldn't hurt .It could be beneficial in car setup and helping each other on track

[alfasud]

It will be a good thing for the one that would otherwise have been beaten and allow the fans of both drivers a ready made excuse for 2005...

If Button (BAR) beats Webber (Williams), the Webber fans will say "well of course the BAR won - look how fast it was in 2004"......

and if Webber beats Button, then Button fans will say, "well of course he could have beaten Webber if he was in a Williams - that's why he wanted to move to Williams, because he knew the 2005 Williams was going to be the better car".

[jetsetter]

I think it is not only bad for Webber but bad for the whole Williams team as those two would've pushed each other to great heights & formed a good partnership.

[twig]

I would think it would be good for Webber, in the past he has been very good with self-motivation, and motivating the team around him, as it appeared with Jaguar.

You would have a slight "Team that Mark built" occurance, and he would feel at home - or at least more at home then with Jenson by his side. Mark would be fine either way, i don't think it will make much of a difference.

[Peter Mallett]

It is a shame that they won't be newbies together but I think its worse for us than either of them. Jenson will be in a position to mould his bits of the team when he arrives whilst Mark will have that extra season to get used to things. Bearing in mind Jenson is already familiar with the team structure I suspect it will be a fairly weven pairing.

IMO next season will prove to those like me who are yet to be convinced that Mark really is a top driver.

[climb]

From MW's standpoint it's better, cos he never liked to have peer teammates; from a general one it's worse, because tough internal competition, albeit sometimes uinpleasant, is the best way to grow.

[BootsOntheSide]

It depends on Mark's mindset really. He's got a golden chance to mould the team around him, a year ahead of Jenson. If he's teamed with DC, he can learn a lot and will have a rival to push him reasonably hard. If he's teamed with Pizzonia (who I think is far better than his Jaguar record suggests, as he showed this year) he will be motivated to win, and will have to catch up in terms of fitting in with the team. It could be good for him, although it's probably bad for the team.

[Peter Mallett]

Interesting pic of DC chatting to a Team Willy exec on Furmula1.com

[Glen]

Webber's big chance just got bigger.

[RWC]

Personally i don't believe this 'mould the team around them' rubbish
-sorry,no offense intended
Overall there is an effect but it is very minimal
Fast drivers will allways be fast drivers no matter where they drive
Or to look at it from another angle,at some teams this can happen but not at williams

[Mattracer]

Probably good for Webber but how good for Williams as a team?

[muzza4ever]

For me it's good for the championship as providing Honda & BAR can make another step forward we'll have another team fighting in the thick of it - Not sure Sato-san is ready for No1 status in a team yet.

In a way it's bad for Jense because if Williams does really well next year and BAR slip back there could a lot of "what if" running through his mind and ours of course - but at least that will give us all something else to talk about!

I doubt either driver needs a team mate to push them as others have already said - they both seem pretty motivated as it stands, and not in a Ralf/JPM kinda way either.

For us the viewing public I'm not so sure how it's going to be. Good I hope,as we see Williams bringing more of a challenge - a good 4 way scrap between McLaren/renault/Williams/BAR should make for interesting races and tussles (sorry guys I think Ferrari are gonna walk it again - but I'd dearly love to get it wrong.)

[N I Tram]

BAR look better placed to regularly challenge for wins next year, as Williams have showed few promising signs this year, and they're doomed to having either the least experienced or least capable line-up in the top 7 teams, especially if 3 car teams are brought in (I'm expecting DC or Pizzonia if it's 2 cars, and DC and Pizzonia if it's 3). That's bad news for Webber, no doubt about it.

In the long term it could be alright though, especially if he can learn from DC and get a dominant position (with Sam Michael on his side) before Jenson arrives.

[Glen]

Originally posted by N I Tram
BAR look better placed to regularly challenge for wins next year, as Williams have showed few promising signs this year...

That doesn't follow, not for me anyway. BAR had a big step this year, partly because Williams didn't. In other words if Williams return to their usual standards they would natural tend to be better than a far less experienced team. In other words, I think it much more likely that Williams will get the better of BAR in 2005 than the other way around.

As for drivers, Webber and anyone is a formidable line-up.

[N I Tram]

But Williams have to rebuild, with a whole new driving line-up and staff, whereas BAR can simply develop on what tehy're doing. Even though Williams and McLaren have underperformed, BAR still beat Renault, who they were well behind last year, and have been ahead of the Ferraris on occasions, and that's real progress.

[Snrub]

I don't think it will mean much for Webber's performance. The ultimate competition comes from drivers on other teams. BAR/Williams/McLaren/Renault have been pretty close in many of the races this year. From Webber's perspective, he'll look better by having less stiff competition. I think Webber's quiet good, but it will be quiet interesting if he's paired with Pizzonia again.

[BootsOntheSide]

I think Pizzonia would be closer than before to Webber if he got the drive, but I don't think anyone is on the market who can give Mark a run for his money right now.

Williams' chances of being a top team next year have taken a kicking from this ruling - unless they produce a good car, I can see them finishing 5th, maybe lower if Toyota advance as muhc as they could.

[raul_iulian]

i say: Great!

[markysjag]

What happens if Marks new team mate has a better year than Mark, who's going to make way for button in 2006?

[Poddy]

Originally posted by markysjag
What happens if Marks new team mate has a better year than Mark, who's going to make way for button in 2006?

I don't think that'll happen anyway, but Williams will surely recognise his talent and work ethic and will give him at least a season to "bed down".

And I'm sure Jenson will be fine if he follows a year after. Considering he's been dumped by his first team after not doing much wrong, mistreated by his second team and still managed to play a major part in taking a mediocre midfield outfit to second in the constructors' within two years of joining them, I doubt easing himself into the well oiled team machinery of Williams will pose much of a problem.