McLaren - A picture of harmony

[Zootopian]

Gotta love the McLaren boys. First Hamilton questions his own team's strategy over the radio as to why he had to pit again for tyres. Then Button modestly says it was his decision to pit early for new tyres. I wonder if the McLaren pit crew are feeling appreciated right about now.

[Giblet]

The engineers call that shot usually on a plan. The pit crew changes the tires.

Button's engineer told the media after the race that the call was button's , as he is the one in the car and can feel the grip and the call was his. He said button made the right call. Your reading too much into something that is not a big deal. Hammy didn't like that he was called in for tires but I would hardly call that lack of harmony.

[Rob W]

As I posted in another thread.. I find it quite ironic that Hamilton, the driver who screams so often about how he's got no grip or his tires are poked etc then also screams at the team for putting him on new tires which he looked like he needed at the time.

Hindsight is great but Button was in a totally different scenario to Hamilton when the call needed to be made. Button made his call to pit early and ended up in a fortunate position on the track without having to hustle amongst other cars, not to mention he's generally much better on his tires than most - especially Hamilton.

[Zootopian]

The engineers call that shot usually on a plan. The pit crew changes the tires.

Button's engineer told the media after the race that the call was button's , as he is the one in the car and can feel the grip and the call was his. He said button made the right call. Your reading too much into something that is not a big deal. Hammy didn't like that he was called in for tires but I would hardly call that lack of harmony.

engineers, pit crew...Potato, potahto. You clearly understood what I meant. Would the word "team" better suit you?

Secondly, I never discounted the fact it wasn't Button's call. My point was that the smart thing for Button to do would have been to acknowledge the team rather than himself in making the decision. The only thing bad about a know it all is if he tells everyone about it.

Also, Hamilton has developed a habit of telling the pit board what to do, like last year when they told him over the radio to "worry about the driving & we'll worry about the strategy."

[Rob W]

I think the point here is: the diver is probably in the best position to tell whether the change of tire (from wet to dry in Button's case) is appropriate - and he was right.. but in the situation of old/worn to new the team will be in the better position to tell - based purely on lap times and how other's are doing.

The point about know-it-alls is sort of irrelevant in any case as Martin Whitmarsh was first to tell the media that Button had made the call to change. They probably thought it was worth the risk if he was confident enough and considering his track position at the time. Why wouldn't the team give Button some kudos for what looked like a pretty ballsy call - one which even Coulthard and Martin Brundle initially said was probably a mistake at the time?

[rjs]

Secondly, I never discounted the fact it wasn't Button's call. My point was that the smart thing for Button to do would have been to acknowledge the team rather than himself in making the decision. The only thing bad about a know it all is if he tells everyone about it.

I don't know, Jenson was rightly proud of that call and he did go out of his way to say that it was thanks to good information from the team. He often tends to go out of his way to be inclusive so I wouldn't read so much into him honestly answering a direct question.

Also, Hamilton has developed a habit of telling the pit board what to do, like last year when they told him over the radio to "worry about the driving & we'll worry about the strategy."

To me it seems to be second-guessing rather than actually making decisions. Clearly there is going to be more trouble on this front as he starts to think he has the experience to make strategy calls. The driver certainly should be involved with tyre decisions so he does need to get good enough at it that the team respects his opinions... and that process is not going to be smooth!

[ringo]

As I posted in another thread.. I find it quite ironic that Hamilton, the driver who screams so often about how he's got no grip or his tires are poked etc then also screams at the team for putting him on new tires which he looked like he needed at the time.

Hindsight is great but Button was in a totally different scenario to Hamilton when the call needed to be made. Button made his call to pit early and ended up in a fortunate position on the track without having to hustle amongst other cars, not to mention he's generally much better on his tires than most - especially Hamilton.

All evidence so far suggests hamilton is better on the tyres. Button destroyed the inters earlier than his teammate. Secondly had Button been in Hamilton's situation i can bet he would not have held out against Massa, Kubica, Rosberg, Alonso, Webber one after the other.
These men are the cream of the crop in terms of duelling, not a cake walk.
Some how people fail to see that Button had a very easy race where tyre conservation was possible without any pressure from the cars behind.
I don't understand how some expect Hamilton to pass drivers, catch up 2 seconds a lap with a broken front wing, and conserve tyres all at the same time (and he conserved them pretty well anyway).
Just goes to show a double standard in terms of expectations. Hamilton is on another level, but you can't expect him to do the impossible.
The 2 drivers simply had 2 different races worlds apart.

[timbo]

All evidence so far suggests hamilton is better on the tyres.
.........
The 2 drivers simply had 2 different races worlds apart.

Disagreed with the first, agreed with second.

[Rob W]

All evidence so far suggests hamilton is better on the tyres. Button destroyed the inters earlier than his teammate.

All evidence? I think timbo sums it up above.

Button didn't need to pit. Hamilton apparently did according to his situation and discussions with the team at the time. Pretty much end of story. Hindsight is amazing but could he really have managed the extra 25 or so laps on his original tires without being overrun by cars which had opted to change?? I doubt it.

Button - laps 6-58 = 52 laps on his tires
Hamilton - laps 33-58 = 25 laps on his.

Hamilton had spent laps behind one or both of the Ferraris around laps 15-20 and then again stuck behind Kubica around lap 30 or so... He simply couldn't get past people quickly enough on the tires he was on so pitted lap 33. Webber had just pitted and was by far the quickest on the track - hence it looked to be the right choice at that moment. He is just pissed off he's not schooling Button as he and others probably hoped.

[marcush.]

Hamilton questioning decisions or actually enforcing them is just a sign of his mates at the wall not being decisive?
It is all related to interactions over a long period of time..Hamilton obeyed to instructions last year without asking questions and was kicked into the biggest
desaster one year ago...almost quitting racing because of this...so for him to
question pitwall and startegy related things and erring on his side of viewing things appears rather normal.It does not help his cause ,as seen on sunday.He was in no position to know if a new set of tyres could reap a benefit the guys at the pitwall could.

as for button...the guy is still rated too low in my opinion and he may not be shining like Vettel or Hamilton on first impression but I have the feeling he will actually not be trounced by Lewis.

[WhiteBlue]

I wonder why certain rookies feel the need to disregard the forum rules. This belongs in the 2010 Melbourne thread.

[Giblet]

Potato fine. One race in changing conditions where button made the call. One driver winning and making the call he was supposed to and The other miffed that his strategy appeared wrong isno reason to speculate people are throwing their toys. If a driver is ever going to misspeak it's in the heat of battle. Hardly a topic worth breaching at this early point. Sounds like unsubstantiated tabloid fodder.

[autogyro]

Potato fine. One race in changing conditions where button made the call. One driver winning and making the call he was supposed to and The other miffed that his strategy appeared wrong isno reason to speculate people are throwing their toys. If a driver is ever going to misspeak it's in the heat of battle. Hardly a topic worth breaching at this early point. Sounds like unsubstantiated tabloid fodder.

I agree Giblet but the car to pit radio did show Hamilton up as not having the same cool as Button.
It was a pointless transmission using mental effort better applied to the job at hand.

[horse]

I think the radio transmission showed how little confidence Hamilton had about being able to pass the Ferraris on track. This is amazing considering how quickly he caught them and I was convinced he would breeze straight past them.

I don't think it shows disharmony at McLaren, I think they just made a technical error and they expected a second round of pit stops to be triggered if they came in. Hamilton was unlucky as he would have been leading should this have happened.

Saying that, Lewis has to take care not to let the balance of favour slip towards Button. He saw it happen for himself when Alonso was there so he knows that an unhappy driver starts to get marginalised, even if just at a subconscious level. He's such a rubber ball, though, I'm sure he'll be back to bright and breezy by Malaysia.

[lebesset]

in motor racing terms your tyres are shot when it is quicker to be on something else , either a new set of the same thing or another type ; it doesn't mean you can't continue , but that you are losing time; it is a judgement based on current tyres , track condition , potential of the new tyres ,and weather outlook ; with jenson's driving style it would be amazing if his inters were not as good as or better than anyone's in the field , but he backed his judgement that slicks would be faster

so button got this right , and EVERYBODY else got it wrong [ look at their times when they changed ]....why is anyone surprised ? schu is [ was ? ] masterful at this , and ross brawn says that jenson is equally as good

btw , those of us that have access to the BBC's famous red button [ or was it generally broadcast as well ? ]saw the interview with jenson's crew chief before jenson had been able to say a word ; asked about the call he said ...his call , not ours [ actually he said it about 3 times ]; apparently they had to rush because the crew was sitting watching the TV ..... they had no idea he was coming in until he was on his way !