Formula 1: Is the Jenson Button - Lewis Hamilton battle inevitable?
The McLaren Duo, Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button have downplayed all speculations regarding an expected teeth and nail battle between the two in the upcoming 2011 season.
Unlike expected, both team-mates were witnessed in a very friendly relationship during the 2010 season. Button, the winner of the drivers’ title in 2009 moved into McLaren at the beginning of the 2010 season. Everyone in the sport considered his shift an
unwise one, considering the much heated time Hamilton and Fernando Alonso experienced as team-mates in 2007.
However, Button not only established a great relation with the entire team and his team-mate, but was also able to claim equal fanfare and attention in the team despite the very dominating role of Hamilton in the British squad since his entrance in 2007.
Although, this came as a big surprise for many of the race analysts who expected things to unfold differently, yet they still believe to see the last year’s missed out brawl this season. Both the drivers never indulged in a one on one fight for a race position
all through the 2010 season. At most of the races Hamilton was simply stronger than Button and at no instance the two stood head-to-head for a race-win or the title.
On the other hand, many believe to see the new MP4-26 in the front of the pack, which can stir rivalry between the two. The Formula 1 commentator, Martin Brundle expressed earlier this year that having two champions in the same team, with a very competitive
car is bound to call for a fight ‘on the track and off it’.
When the 2008 world champ Hamilton was probed about this, he insisted that they will try to avoid the pitfalls that befell Red Bull rivals Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber in 2010.
He explained, " Is there any sense in Jenson and me fighting against each other if it damages our chances of having the fastest car? What's the use in battling tooth and nail over 10th place?”
Hamilton believes that avoiding rivalry last year was not merely because of no direct confrontation, rather it was because they both do not have any personality clashes. He further stated, "Having said that, Jenson and I also get on very well together -
we've both grown up within British motorsport, we've shared a lot of the same experiences and it's brought us to the same point in our lives, driving for Vodafone McLaren Mercedes and doing our very best to win the World Championship for ourselves and our
team."
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