Button to rather quit F1 than follow team orders
It has been an increasingly heated debate – Should team orders be given to drivers? Jenson Button clearly believes otherwise.
Following Ferrari’s hearing on the alleged team fixing scandal, the Formula One audience has been divided on whether such ‘tactics’ be made legal or not.
Jenson Button stated that he would rather quit the motorsport than be treated as a guinea pig for the ‘greater good’ of the team. The Englishman revealed that in all his years in Formula One, he has never been ‘ordered’ to put conventional racing in the background and to let a driver through. The McLaren Mercedes driver was quick to reiterate that he wouldn’t necessarily quit the sport straight away but it would definitely shorten his career.
The former Brawn GP driver commented:
"If only one driver (in a team) was in with a chance of the championship then I'd still rather not have team orders, but I would understand if the team came and said 'you can't win the world championship, so don't make it as difficult as you probably would otherwise. “
This seems rather tentative, especially the latter half of the comment – Is it a message to Michael Schumacher and his theatrics in the Hungarian Grand Prix when he nearly sandwiched former Ferrari partner Rubens Barrichello into a cemented wall. The German driver was merely in a position to score the last available point scoring spot with nearly zero chances of being deemed a runner for the World Championship.
"But while you are still fighting for the world championship it is very strange to me that a driver is told to move over. I don't understand that at all and I don't understand anyone in the sport who would want to race in those circumstances.”
The following comment seems to be an assault on the rather, ‘selfless’ character of the Brazilian Ferrari driver, Felipe Massa, who was obedient enough to let his teammate through.
Ferrari has been accused of similar behavior in the past, only that time the ‘willing’ Brazilian was in the shape of Rubens Barrichello, Button’s former Brawn GP team mate. It was perhaps in recognition of his strict race-related marriage with his team mate that he reminded of how his former employees saw both drivers as ‘racers’ despite Button being favorite to win the Championship – Not once did Ross Brawn signal his team mate to slow down to fuel Jenson’s title charge. It was a race, and the team believed in the ‘may the better driver win’ philosophy and the current McLaren Mercedes driver relished the opportunity to race a car that was very much like his own.
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