McLaren - A picture of harmony

[sAx]

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.

Taking a balanced perpsective here, Alonso has been attributed with asking his Engineers, 'if he needs to change his tyres, why don't they call him in?' with respect to his team-mate. Seems there was more than one driver publicly airing his frustration.

sAx

[Rob W]

Martin Whitmarsh comments on this topic:

You could see at that point that Lewis was losing time behind Kubica, you could see he had graining of his rear left tyre and you could see that Michael (Schumacher) had stopped and was going purple, Webber had stopped and was going purple and more than one second per lap quicker

Two guys who'd just changed tires going a second a lap quicker is ample evidence to suggest changing tires is the right choice in most situations.

Lewis should STFU with his public bollocking of his team and worry about stuff he can plan for or control - not claim hindsight like he or the team knew it at the time.

[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.

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.

Taking a balanced perpsective here, Alonso has been attributed with asking his Engineers, 'if he needs to change his tyres, why don't they call him in?' with respect to his team-mate. Seems there was more than one driver publicly airing his frustration.

sAx

I like what Alonso said just as much:

"Lewis is 3.5 seconds behind, Lewis is 3.5 seconds behind" said his engineer

"I don't want to know" said Alonso, which is not much different than "be quiet, I can see him in the mirrors ffs"

[lebesset]

surely it's really quite simple , you either listen to the information available from your crew , then make your own decision like button

OR let your crew weigh the evidence and make the decision like hamilton ; in which case whatever happens STFU as rob so succinctly puts it ..just because it doesn't work out doesn't make it a bad decision , and even if it is , they are only human , so please don't shoot the pianist ...he is doing his best

but although the boss ...whitmarsh ...has the power of veto over the pit crews , I don't believe he should have over the driver ; he can talk to him personally but if the driver is certain in his own mind , that is final ; would take a pretty experienced driver to overrule the team principal however

[PNSD]

It cost a result but thats that. Monaco 09 cost a possible podium (at least strong points). Monza 09 cost a for sure 3rd, and maybe even a 2nd though unlikley.

Its racing. The team never once complained when he has made mistakes, as stated, Lewis should shut his trap.

[twoshots]

Hardly a topic worth breaching at this early point.

Quite. This thread is like the Daily Mail of F1 Technical.

Hamilton and Alonso both made 'comments' to their respective race engineers out of frustration during the race. It's not a press conference. They are both quite emotional/passionate drivers.

Hamilton's comments immediately post race were: "All I know is the guys do always a fantastic job; the strategy was not right."

[PlatinumZealot]

I notice that The team does not confer with Hamilton during the race; they only tell him to do stuff. Button on the other hand, they ask him what he wants to do first. Obviously there is something going on there. It's either they think Hamilton is some miracle worker or they simply think he has no common track sense.

[audifan]

n.smikle ,please tell me where it is you can get a feed of the team radio during the race ; I would love to listen in as well !

[mx_tifoso]

n.smikle ,please tell me where it is you can get a feed of the team radio during the race ; I would love to listen in as well !

http://mclaren.com/home

Scroll down to the commentary, it's from the team to both drivers. Pretty cool.

[RacingManiac]

I notice that The team does not confer with Hamilton during the race; they only tell him to do stuff. Button on the other hand, they ask him what he wants to do first. Obviously there is something going on there. It's either they think Hamilton is some miracle worker or they simply think he has no common track sense.

Likely a case of habit....

[Belatti]

[Rob W]

Scroll down to the commentary, it's from the team to both drivers. Pretty cool.

Don' think that is the sum of it. More likely an edited version for website use for regular updates (or mobile feed).

[donskar]

I notice that The team does not confer with Hamilton during the race; they only tell him to do stuff. Button on the other hand, they ask him what he wants to do first. Obviously there is something going on there. It's either they think Hamilton is some miracle worker or they simply think he has no common track sense.

I don't think there is "something going on" if you mean that in a negative/conspiratorial sense. I think the McL crew simply know that Button is more mature and more experienced than Hamilton.

James Allen put it succinctly:

Yesterday Hamilton showed he is still dependent on them [the team] for decisions, but unfortunately for him, Button showed what leadership from the cockpit is all about and the contrast is painful for Hamilton. He will be stinging.

No attack on Hamilton here: Button is 30 years old and has 10 years F1 experience to the 25 year old Hamilton's three.

[RacingManiac]

*pic of troll*

Was that directed at anyone in particular, or should I expand my reply a bit?

The style on interaction between engineers and drivers I am sure differs quite a bit. We've all heard of Rob Smedley's call to Massa, its always more instructional, where as some would be more consultation style....

[audifan]

have to agree with that ; button is now the complete racing driver
hamilton is still work in progress
whitmarsh said that button is so laid back it is frightening , but they know that underneath his will to win is as strong as anybody

for those who didn't see it , eddie jordan took button to one side after an interview and said that button's speech that he had made the night before was the finest he had ever heard ..an exaggeration no doubt , but gives some idea of the calibre of the guy [ red button again ]