Button Or Perez?

[Jean-Pierre 0]

Button is complaining about the car, saying that he feels lost in the car in certain situations (isn't it what he said when he had problems during several races in 2012 when LH had none?)

All Perez said is that the tyres are a problem, but clocked a best time of 1,21.8 (compared to a 1,22.8 for Button, a full second slower).

Is Button already starting to make excuses because he realises that Perez is extremely fast? May be not, but then again...

[Insider 0]

Perez is quick over one lap and will probably out qualify JB this year. That's why Woking signed him.

[Kati 0]

Idk. I do think Jenson is a better driver overall due to all the experience he has, whereas Perez tends to risk everything by trying to show off. My opinion. And we all know Jenson is a whiner, that's not new.

[Jean-Pierre 0]

Perez is quick over one lap and will probably out qualify JB this year. That's why Woking signed him.

May be JB is just bluffing, because it looks terrible IMHO to say such thing as they might have "the wrong car for 2013". Perez did a 1.21,8, one of the best all drivers combined. Hardly a "wrong car"? I wonder how the engineers and mechanics are feeling about this comment.

May be I'm making a big thing out of nothing, but I think he is talking too much too early in the game.

[Quiet One 15]

May be JB is just bluffing, because it looks terrible IMHO to say such thing as they might have "the wrong car for 2013". Perez did a 1.21,8, one of the best all drivers combined. Hardly a "wrong car"? I wonder how the engineers and mechanics are feeling about this comment.

May be I'm making a big thing out of nothing, but I think he is talking too much too early in the game.

Drivers know better than us how the car goes and when asked about how they feel about it, I'd rather have them telling me "feels like crap" than saying "This is a great car and I want to thank all the shareholders of Lady San - Doritos - Herbal Essence - Subaru F1 team for their invaluable support"

Having said that as a general rule. This is just another case of "Journos twisting phrases and editing quotes and inventing BS", supercharged as it is off season. I have no access to the original interview, but none of the sites quoting Button show him saying anything even remotely close to that phrase. Yet F1Pulse makes that phrase the title of their article.

What JB said was that they could have easily taken last years car and make it competitive from the start with very little modifications, something that's probably true, and in no way means that the MP28 is "wrong". He even goes further to add that even if the MP27 could be a good car from the start, it would find itself at the end of its development curve in 4 races. So I don't see how that can be converted into "McLaren got their car wrong". That was shameful, gross distortion of what was actually quoted. If JB said something in the line of "the car is fundamentally wrong" then they forgot to quote that part.

I think they distorted everything just because that fits better with the "Jenson is a whinner" character that they themselves helped big time to create.

But still...Jenson is a crybaby! Jenson is a crybaby! Neener neener!

[Insider 0]

I am not dissing JB but Perez is quick. As Kati says, Jenson is way more consistent.

[The Shadow 0]

Even if it's trash journalism, its still better they know their weak points and take the right steps now, rather than start the season with optimism and be a laughing stock at Q2 in Melbourne.

Working with these Pirellis looks to be a all-hands-on-deck sort of deal, so that last year's inconsistencies would be minimised. Though that may not be as much fun for us fans

[rumblestrip 0]

Jenson is doomed for the sheer fact that I like him, and anyone I like ends up having a bad season. I should try to figure out how to like someone I don't like. Errr, hmmmm.

[Mikesr1 0]

Has to be Button!

[Jean-Pierre 0]

Not so sure. Tighter than many thought, and Perez is still learning the car...

[Kati 0]

Not so sure. Tighter than many thought, and Perez is still learning to drive...

better.

[Jean-Pierre 0]

better.

?

I was fairly impressed with Perez, and If I were JB I would be worried not only at the poor performance of the car, but at the fact that if he follows his usual pattern of going in a downward spiral when the car is not to his liking, Perez might be breathing down his neck sooner that later.

Or do you see JB beating Perez easily all year long?

[Kati 0]

?

I was fairly impressed with Perez, and If I were JB I would be worried not only at the poor performance of the car, but at the fact that if he follows his usual pattern of going in a downward spiral when the car is not to his liking, Perez might be breathing down his neck sooner that later.

Or do you see JB beating Perez easily all year long?

Perez was just nowhere to be seen. The car sucks yea, but he is still way worse than Jenson. To be very honest, even though he seemed promising during the first half of last season, after McLaren announced him all he did was crap.

[Quiet One 15]

Perez was just nowhere to be seen. The car sucks yea, but he is still way worse than Jenson. To be very honest, even though he seemed promising during the first half of last season, after McLaren announced him all he did was crap.

You are too harsh. Perhaps he was not bad, he was just taking care of Alonso.

And Vettel.

And Webber.

And Hamilton.

And Maldonado.

And Pic.

And...

[Massa 0]

I've said it many times here: Pérez was not a top prospect until he got to F1. His results in certain junior formula were horrible, against drivers who went on to do something else for a living. He improved in F3, and improved again in GP2. The quicker and more powerful the cars got, the better he did. He wasn't really on the radar until his last year of GP2, where he finished second to Pastor Maldonado against a field of nobodies. Most of his wins, if I recall correctly, were in the shorter sprint races with inverted starting grids.

He's shown more in F1 than he has shown out of it.

F1's also a sport where there are more non-driver variables.

Is it possible to say that maybe the Sauber overstated the abilities of Pérez early in the season? It seems weird to think that a Sauber would make anyone look good, but once the tires became more normal, it changed for Pérez (he also made silly mistakes more, too, so there's that element, too). It's not to say that Pérez is not good; I think he has a lot of talent. I just wonder if there was something about the Sauber and how it handled the Pirelli tires that really just worked for Pérez.

Another way of thinking about it would be to say that there's something particular Pérez needs in a car, and the Sauber offered that in combination with the early-season tires better than anything else he has driven.

I hate the way I've worded this post, because it seems to discredit Pérez, and I hate discrediting any driver in F1. That's really not my intention. I'm just wondering if there's a "catch" to Pérez' clear talent, so to speak...that something else needs to be in place for all that ability to come out. Maybe it's mental, but come on, he's an F1 driver, the pressure of signing with McLaren didn't suddenly make him an emotional mess. He had to be tough to continually prove himself as he climbed a ladder that some felt he had no right climbing based on past results. So, I don't know.

I'll give him more than one Grand Prix at McLaren before I really think too much about it. His streak of ranging from invisible to sloppy dates back months, so I think it's fair to address it, but it's also fair to see if McLaren can offer him what he needs to get better. Based on results, he's shown he can continually improve, and that's so promising. He's exactly what you want: a guy who is most comfortable in F1 cars. It's just a matter of figuring out if that needs to be rephrased as a particular characteristic of an F1 car.

Moreover, I think McLaren have to focus on a few things other than their two drivers first. It really won't matter if Button or Pérez gets the better of the other if they're fighting for P12. I don't expect that, of course. McLaren will improve. But they won't improve just by inertia, so they have to look at that before they look at who made the most of it.

It's a rebuilding period for them, and there's nothing wrong with that. The McLaren we know wasn't winning WCCs and wasn't getting its drivers to WDCs. If they have to take a few steps back to take some big ones forward in the future, well, they're just doing exactly what their driver, Hamilton, plans to do. McLaren's in the process of figuring out what McLaren is, and that's going to take attention away from figuring out what Pérez is.

I'm still convinced Pérez can win races, for the record.

[Quiet One 15]

I've said it many times here: Pérez was not a top prospect until he got to F1. His results in certain junior formula were horrible, against drivers who went on to do something else for a living. He improved in F3, and improved again in GP2. The quicker and more powerful the cars got, the better he did. He wasn't really on the radar until his last year of GP2, where he finished second to Pastor Maldonado against a field of nobodies. Most of his wins, if I recall correctly, were in the shorter sprint races with inverted starting grids.

He's shown more in F1 than he has shown out of it.

F1's also a sport where there are more non-driver variables.

Is it possible to say that maybe the Sauber overstated the abilities of Pérez early in the season? It seems weird to think that a Sauber would make anyone look good, but once the tires became more normal, it changed for Pérez (he also made silly mistakes more, too, so there's that element, too). It's not to say that Pérez is not good; I think he has a lot of talent. I just wonder if there was something about the Sauber and how it handled the Pirelli tires that really just worked for Pérez.

Another way of thinking about it would be to say that there's something particular Pérez needs in a car, and the Sauber offered that in combination with the early-season tires better than anything else he has driven.

I hate the way I've worded this post, because it seems to discredit Pérez, and I hate discrediting any driver in F1. That's really not my intention. I'm just wondering if there's a "catch" to Pérez' clear talent, so to speak...that something else needs to be in place for all that ability to come out. Maybe it's mental, but come on, he's an F1 driver, the pressure of signing with McLaren didn't suddenly make him an emotional mess. He had to be tough to continually prove himself as he climbed a ladder that some felt he had no right climbing based on past results. So, I don't know.

I'll give him more than one Grand Prix at McLaren before I really think too much about it. His streak of ranging from invisible to sloppy dates back months, so I think it's fair to address it, but it's also fair to see if McLaren can offer him what he needs to get better. Based on results, he's shown he can continually improve, and that's so promising. He's exactly what you want: a guy who is most comfortable in F1 cars. It's just a matter of figuring out if that needs to be rephrased as a particular characteristic of an F1 car.

Moreover, I think McLaren have to focus on a few things other than their two drivers first. It really won't matter if Button or Pérez gets the better of the other if they're fighting for P12. I don't expect that, of course. McLaren will improve. But they won't improve just by inertia, so they have to look at that before they look at who made the most of it.

It's a rebuilding period for them, and there's nothing wrong with that. The McLaren we know wasn't winning WCCs and wasn't getting its drivers to WDCs. If they have to take a few steps back to take some big ones forward in the future, well, they're just doing exactly what their driver, Hamilton, plans to do. McLaren's in the process of figuring out what McLaren is, and that's going to take attention away from figuring out what Pérez is.

I'm still convinced Pérez can win races, for the record.

Perez was really impressive in the first half, but in retrospective (and I fear being unfair as well), that was a chaotic time and even then many of us asked if he was not just a one trick pony (more of a one pitstop pony). I had great expectations fot him but he failed to impress again.

He has gone from hero to zero so it is hard to know which side is the actual Sergio.

In his defense, his qualy strategy was suicidal, at least, and no hindsight working here. The minute I saw them fit him with slicks I thought "they are going to kill him". Well, they didn't but certainly sent him miles behind Button.

Oh, wait...perhaps that's exactly what they wanted...

[Jean-Pierre 0]

Perez was just nowhere to be seen. The car sucks yea, but he is still way worse than Jenson. To be very honest, even though he seemed promising during the first half of last season, after McLaren announced him all he did was crap.

Well that is pretty one sided. let see how he fares in the next race. I beleive he will improve with each race and will beat JB occasionaly on the second half of the season.

[Jean-Pierre 0]

WOW! I thought it was Gilles Villeneuve himself for a moment there! Button can say what he wants, he was badly outdrove by Perez who, if he continues to drive like this, will challenge him for the no1 spot sooner than later. This is the Perez we know from last year, finally.

Bravo to McLaren to have let them race. I'm not sure they (or anyone) knew Perez was so incredibly good.

I'm going to take the risky bet that Perez will finish ahead of Button this year, if the team let him race as he can.

[Massa 0]

That's a good point, Jean-Pierre. After Malaysia's focus being so negatively on two opposing team order situations, and both being criticized, one really must respect McLaren. They let them race. They viewed risk as what could be gained, not what could be lost, and that's cool (if not foolish). I enjoyed watching Pérez very much at Bahrain. Thanks are owed to McLaren for letting me enjoy that.

[radical-one 0]

Jenson can complain all he wants, next year Perez will be No. 1 driver.

End of story, end of Jenson

[Insider 0]

It's a double-edged sword. The McLaren psychology is clearly designed to wind up both drivers. That's fine but Button is light years ahead of Perez in terms of maturity and will save his car over his pride. That's why he is the team leader and what McLaren pay him for. In F1, speed is a good thing, consistency is everything.

[Jean-Pierre 0]

It's a double-edged sword. The McLaren psychology is clearly designed to wind up both drivers. That's fine but Button is light years ahead of Perez in terms of maturity and will save his car over his pride. That's why he is the team leader and what McLaren pay him for. In F1, speed is a good thing, consistency is everything.

I agree. Let see if Perez will be consistent now that he knows the car better. Frankly, I'm impressed he got the car figured out so fast. That says a lot about Lewis.

[Insider 0]

The problem is, with these 'stage prop' tyres you can never feel 'safe'. In one race, Button will reign supreme, in another Perez will better him. It's the nature of the beast. If McLaren want to win races then they have to get their pedlars to the front of the grid. We seen a lot of people having a great race from the fifth or sixth row but as Vettel showed in Bahrain, there is no substitute for running in clean air. That's were the gold is.

[Grabthaw the Hammerslayer 4]

In motor racing consistency is as important as speed. Perez currently is too variable to make a call. Sometimes he looks aggressive, sometimes completely fails to impress. I'd want to see a few more races (and whether he takes his team-mate out) before making a judgment.

Will be interesting to see what effect his more aggressive style will have on Button though....

[radical-one 0]

Button will get his b@tt kicked by Perez again in Spain.

Then he will complain forever and ever