Bernie Ecclestone expects Jenson Button to be stronger in 2013 - Formula 1 news
Formula 1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone expects McLaren’s Jenson Button to gain advantage of his former team-mate Lewis Hamilton’s switch to Mercedes for the 2013 season.
According to Ecclestone, “Maybe we will see that their ‘second driver’ will not really be second driver – that he is as good as everybody believes.”
He added, “I think it will be good for Jenson Button too, as he will now feel that he is in charge, whereas before he might have thought that he was ‘number two’.
Now he is ‘number one’ and we will very likely see a different Jenson. That might be good for him. Perhaps.”
Button became the 2009 world champion with Brawn GP, after Honda had decided to leave the sport because of financial reasons. That season helped him gain the confidence
of some major teams and he was hired by McLaren to partner Hamilton in the 2010 season.
However, things did not work out well for the British driver, as he failed to win any championship after 2009. Although he proved to be competitive on most of the
times, he was not rated as the lead driver in the team because of the presence of Hamilton.
This would have been frustrating for someone like Button, who did not get any backing to defend his title in 2010. However, he kept on doing his job with the team
and scored some important victories over the years.
The veteran racer was unable to make a strong impression in the 2012 season, as he suffered a lot of reliability issues. Despite that, he managed to end the season
on a high, winning the Brazilian GP.
It is expected that the 33-year-old will come out strongly this season, as he will enjoy all the perks of a lead driver. He will be partnered by young Mexican Sergio
Perez, who gave some impressive performances with Sauber last year.
Since Hamilton decided to leave McLaren at the end of last year, the team did not have too many options to consider. However, they wasted no time in recruiting
Perez, who will have to prove his worth this year.
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