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We now have an all British F1 team for the first time in my lifetime.
Most people will say Ham will smash Jense, but there is one thing to remember. Next year we start racing with full tanks of fuel, no refuelling, so tyre wear will be higher.
Perhaps Jenson's smoother style will create a few surprises, as Hammo can be pretty hard on tyres.
Interesting season ahead, with Alonso vs Massa another interesting battle. Plus we have the possibility of an all German Mercedes team!
Great. They finally announced it. I've been checking up every day to see what is happening with Button.
It is a shame he couldn't stay at Brawn/Mercedes as I know how much he loved that team and worked so well with Ross and all of the others in the team.
It definitely will be interesting to see both Hamilton and Button together in the same team. Finally we will be able to compare them side by side in equal cars. Something that is often not possible in F1.
I'm not sure who will come out on top between these 2 drivers. Both are world champions, both can have good and bad race weekends, both can drive brilliant races when they get it right.
The biggest problem is car setup. From what I've read Hamilton likes an unsually unstable rear end to the car, allowing him to be faster though corners. Whereas Button prefers a much more balanced car with a slightly unbalanced front end. These are opposites of car characteristics and with Hamilton being with the team for so long you have to assume they have developed the 2010 car with him in mind, although you never know. It is possible to set a car up to both extremes.
We will have to wait and see.
I am so glad Jenson got a decent drive for 2010. I was worried with Brawn being bought out and Mercedes wanting a German driver in the team that his seat options might have been limited and seen him move to one of the new teams, which would have been on par with the bad season Hill had post championship year. At least with McLaren he will have one of the best teams who know how to win.
2010 should be interesting for sure.
Hamilton is going to come out on top.
But then I also said that Jenson would never, ever win the F1 championship - so there's a good chance I could be wrong. I doubt it, though.
JT, I agree - Hamilton will definitely have the advantage, especially at the start of the year. He's been with the team for years, knows everyone, has been back at base overseeing the development of this years and next years car giving feedback and honing it to his driving style.
That kind of advantage, not even counting personal skill, is very hard to overcome immediately and Jenson certainly will have the challenge he desires!
As Harrision mentioned, they both like different setups and have different styles. It will take Jension a long time to get up to speed - he's lucky KERS has been removed as that would have made his job even harder - just look how much Fisi struggled going to a KERS car. It requires a different style. With KERS removed next year, Hammo will have to get back to driving a non-KERS car (won't be much of an issue) rather than Jens having to adapt to driving one for the first time in his career.
I think the trend we'll see next year is Hammo out-qualifying Jens more often than not, but Jense looking after his tyres better and creeping forward during the race and even catching or being faster than Hammo if he overcooks his tyres.
Jenson's weakness seems to be qualifying. He always seems to settle in and get some fantastic times out of the car on long runs, usually keeping his position or moving forward, unlike Heikki. And that's what McLaren want - a second driver who will be strong for the constructors. Plus a world champ and number 1 on the car for £6 million, compared to Kimi who was paid £25m and Hamilton £12m. Although money is nothing once you're that rich, I bet Jense feels a little under valued for a world champ.
Can't wait!!!!
I'm just glad that Jenson finally has his chance to drive for a top class team after all the crap from Williams at the start of his career (and where are they know?). If he can get the support from his new McLaren pit crew he should be able to get close to Lewis and maybe if they get the car right as a team even rival him.
Qualifying as mentioned has definitely been Jenson's downfall. Sometimes he can put in a brillant Qualifying lap, but he has to be in exactly the right frame of mind and have the car perfectly setup for his driving style. Although saying that Hamilton's qualifying wasn't that brilliant when his car wasn't performing either, so the same could be said of him when he is having a bad day.
It is also now reported that Jenson is being paid less by McLaren than he was finally offered by Brawn. It shows he is now definitely looking at the best drive, rather than just the money. And McLaren are rumoured to have a very good car for 2010.
Jenson is also definitely more consistent in races than Hamilton. Wire wear and frustrated driving can be the big downfall of Lewis, and we hardly ever seen either from Jenson.
I can't wait to see what happens.
It will also be interesting with the other movements between drivers and teams for next year too. I'm not sure how Alonso is going to perform at Ferrari. I can't see the 2 working well together.
And then we have all the new teams which should add a lot of unknown factors, and the lose of large constructors will level the playing field more behind the big named front runners.