Jenson Button writes off Sebastian Vettel’s title hopes
McLaren Mercedes driver Jenson Button has written off Sebastian Vettel’s title hopes for the 2010 season. Vettel finds himself 31 points shy of first placed Lewis Hamilton and 28 points behind team-mate Mark Webber at second spot. The Belgian Grand Prix was a race to forget for the German who completed the race with a fat zero for his efforts.
McLaren Mercedes team boss Martin Whitmarsh titled him as the ‘crash kid’ after his colliding into Jenson Button ended the latter’s race. The comment could not altogether be considered biased as this is not the first time Vettel crashed into a title contender. Mark Webber, his Red Bull Racing team-mate would be able to give a front seat account of the ‘little’ accident between the two at the Turkish Grand Prix.
Red Bull Racing team principle, Christian Horner, jumped to his driver’s aid after the comments of his McLaren counterpart.
"This was one of those races where it just did not go his way. It just didn't work out for him so he needs to stay calm and focused, and eventually it will go his way."
The RBR man further pointed out that it was a split-second decision and his driver made a mistake in that high-speed moment. The tough weather conditions did not make handling easier and should be considered before commenting on the character and technique of the racing driver.
Button does concede that there is no denying how fast the young driver has been this year, but feels that the German has made too many mistakes this season for the world championship.
"To get seven poles is extraordinary in the amount of races we've had (13), but to throw that many away is also very surprising." the McLaren driver concluded.
The stat is impressive and there is no doubt being able to get pole in qualifying in half the races of the season is an extraordinary achievement. Having said that, the latter part of Button’s comment makes equal sense, Vettel has only been able to convert 2 of those 7 pole positions to chequered flag finishes.
Button himself, effectively has a tall mountain to climb to retain his championship. The loss of 18 potential points has widened the gap between him and team-mate Lewis Hamilton to 35 points. With six races to go, Lewis will have to make a mistake to give Button a sniff of the title because it’s hard seeing Hamilton consistently out qualified for the remainder of the season.
The British driver did offer an alternate perspective, converting the points with respect to last year’s grading amounts to a gap of 14 points, a touch more optimistic figure. The old point system ensured 10 points for pole, 8 for second and 6 for third. With that said, 14 points to cover in those terms may be a quantitative comfort. But irrespective of the point system, on track competition for the podium hasn’t decreased by any stretch of imagination.
It also seems rather naïve and hypocritical on Button’s part to affirm himself with phrases like ‘I can’ and ‘I will’ over much conservative responses while at the same time bashing the driver’s chances that still sits four points above him. It’s plain to see that despite admitting the incident at the Belgian Grand Prix did not happen on purpose, Button still can’t help himself taking a swing at Vettel. It does sabotage his chances for the title, but it should be noted that it would have been the last thing on Vettel’s mind since he, at the end of the day, had a much better chance of challenging for the title considering Button’s already damaged wing.
There is no denying the British driver's optimism looking on to the Italian Grand Prix as he sensibly pointed out that a race win in the next grand prix would do a world of confidence to the victor and make distant targets appear closer than they appear at present.
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