Jenson Button: "Red Bull should be worried"

F1 Fanatic round-up

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In today’s round-up: Jenson Button thinks McLaren is closing the gap on Red Bull but says "these reliability issues at the last two races [have] probably ruined my championship".

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Top F1 links from the past 24 hours:

Jenson Button Q&A: Red Bull should be worried (Formula1.com)

"We’ve won three out of the last five races, so yes, it is looking pretty good for us. It is just a pity for me that I had these reliability issues at the last two races and that probably ruined my championship. I am a long way behind Seb, so actually I’ve got to beat him at every race – and that is exactly what I am going to do. Red Bull should be really worried because I think that we are closing in on them in the race and in qualifying.

"I am very thankful to the team, as they’ve done a brilliant job – not only in the race but also for qualifying. They’ve done a fantastic job over the last couple of races, so this victory is a good way of going into the summer break."

Nick – "We have a few weeks now to reassess" (Lotus Renault GP)

"My second pit stop took longer than expected because there was a problem with one of my wheels. The car is not designed to stay running on high revs for so long so it started smoking and caught fire. I noticed the smoke coming from the rear of the car as I was driving out of the pit lane so I had to pull over and cut my race short."

Hungarian GP from the pitlane (BBC F1)

"BBC F1 reporter Ted Kravitz brings you the inside line from the paddock after Jenson Button wins a dramatic Hungarian Grand Prix."

F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone unveils rules to help teams with Bribery Act (The Telegraph)

"Bernie Ecclestone has created an ethics committee and introduced anti-bribery rules to comply with new UK corruption laws and calm the storm of bribery allegations engulfing Formula 1."

Jenson Button via Twitter

"My fans rock!! Thanks for all your lovely congrats messages. Enjoy the summer break and we’ll come back and do the same at Spa! ;-)"

Heikki Kovalainen via Twitter

"Just landed in Geneva, we took off after Schumacher but he just landed after us so it’s the first time I overtake him this year!"

Sky/BBC deal ‘saved free-to-air’ F1 coverage in UK (Autosport)

"Williams chairman Adam Parr believes Bernie Ecclestone did the right thing in putting together that BBC/Sky shared broadcast deal for next year – because there was a risk of Formula 1 coverage being off free-to-air television entirely."

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Comment of the day

What did you think of the Hungarian Grand Prix? matty55 says:

I’m so glad that F1 is in a period where most races are really exciting and that we have so many great drivers racing against each other. Hope it stays this way for a long time!
matty55

Read more: Rate the race

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On this day in F1

Jackie Stewart led a Tyrrell one-two at the Nurburgring Nordschleife.

Clay Regazzoni was third for Ferrari ahead of team mate Mario Andretti.

Here’s a video of the start of the race:

Also on this day in 1980, Patrick Depailler lost his life in a crash at the Hockenheimring:

Author information

Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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50 comments on “Jenson Button: "Red Bull should be worried"”

  1. Did you see this fan shot video of Heidfelds crash? It’s a much better view than FOM showed and you can see the explosion that looks to have injured on of the marshalls a little bit.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9tF7g3CwK8&feature=player_embedded

    1. That’s a great find and deserves an article of its own:

      Fan video gives close-up view of Heidfeld’s Renault fire

    2. Woah! That looked very dangerous already on the telly, but this shot makes it worse.

      Wonder what caused the exposion.

      1. Watch Ted Kravitz video (the round up links to it). Gives an explanation. As always Ted knowing all the facts even if we hardly ever see him on TV

        1. Will BBC share its personnel with Sky?

          I’m hoping!

  2. my dad has sky sports, so will I be able to watch sky sports using their ‘sky go’ service on my laptop?

    1. Yes, you will.

    2. sorry about the post. it’s a bit smug!

  3. I think Button is right. This venue is Red Bull’s playground last year. This year, I’m sure they are 3rd quickest in the race. Of course stretagy was more crucial than pace and that is why Vettel is 2nd. But he never impressed me during the race. Spa and Monza are Ferrari and Mclaren’s places and even Suzuka where Red Bull was dominant last year is not safe now. So if there’s no more magic(please!), with some trouble, they will be caught up. Still, it’s not enough to defeat Vettel in the championship, I think it’s enough to annoy him. That’s enought this year. Just hope better next year.

    1. This venue is Red Bull’s playground last year.

      Suzuka, too.

      Of course, Vettel can win the championship in Singapore, so it may not be an issue by then …

      1. certainly his double title chance will not be threated. Title battle is virtually over. but 2012 will be much tough for them.

      2. Red Bull’s recent pace probably means clinching in Singapore is a long shot now. But after Japan, there would be just 4 races to go. With the gap at 80+ points now, if Vettel is 100+ points to the good after the race at his favorite track, he should clinch there.

        1. Seems that Vetter will not find that 1 second advantage any time soon but competitors must take him off the podium and one of them will need multiple wins. Button or Hamilton would need 6 more wins to make Vettel shaky.

          I think this championship is not close because Webber failed to match Vettel when they have that advantage. Button has won 2 GPs like Hamilton but Webber is yet to win!

    2. “Yeah, but…”

      What if RB have all but stopped developing this year’s car? I would. Headstart on 2012 while Ferrari and McLaren scrabble around for parity. Then wash and repeat, year after year, until Newey gets bored and hops over to HRT for a challenge.

  4. Jenson Button: “Red Bull should be worried”

    Yeah, and I should be worried about my gall stones. Does not mean said stones are a threat. That is a neat analogy to this situation. McLaren’s improving performance is a gall stone in Vettel’s Championship race. Slightly annoying but no threat.

    1. If Red Bull are going to be worried about anyone, it shouldn’t be Button who never wins in the dry.

      1. Agreed…while I have no issue with JB’s enthusiasm, I doubt SV is too worried about MW, JB, LH, and FA mixing it up for the odd win for the rest of the season, splitting points amongst each other while SV continues to get big points in every race, even if they aren’t always 25’ers…

        So, imho, it remains after this weekend that most teams would love to have the kind of ‘worries’ that Red Bull is enjoying right now…and to me MW’s placing in this race, and the fact that the Macs and FA’s Ferrari are looking like stronger competition now, just means that the team will have to concentrate on SV from here on in and leave MW to take points from the Macs and FA. More bad news for JB who is still looking to fight with LH for real estate while RB and Ferrari know who their go-to guy is by now.

        1. Kind of contradicted myself there a little regarding MW…imho, I don’t think MW will be allowed to mix it up for a win if it’s on a day that means taking points away from SV, so the only way MW is going to win another race this year is if SV is for some reason too far back to be helped. Otherwise his job now is to take points away from the rest.

  5. “Williams chairman Adam Parr believes Bernie Ecclestone did the right thing in putting together that BBC/Sky shared broadcast deal for next year – because there was a risk of Formula 1 coverage being off free-to-air television entirely.”

    Rubbish, C4 and ITV were lining up to take it on. Half live is pointless, been better to ask for delayed live and do better job for every race.

    1. The right thing would’ve been for Bernie to lower the price. But greed doesn’t work that way. Why couildn’t BBC and Ch4 share?

    2. Two words why Adam Parr is wrong: Concorde Agreement.

      1. The deal apparently satisfies the Concorde Agreement.

        1. This deal satisfies it…. But if the BBC had refused to go in with sky then it wouldn’t. The BBC sold us down the river!!

          Under the concorde agreement F1 cannot be shown on Pay-TV only, but because BBC were willing to get into bed with Murdoch/SKY we are subjected to losing F1 Forever. I’m afraid that this has opened the floodgates, the teams will like the revenue from SKY and i guarantee by 2018 there will be no live F1 on free-to-view TV.

    3. Agreed “rubish” Rupert Murdoch does not buy TV rights to prop up his ego, he buys them because he can make money out of them. Once BskyB have a monopoly on major sporting events and all the people who can afford the service have become used to paying for it advertising will be introduced. Murdoch will acquire total control of BSB when the heat dies down.

  6. @ matty55
    Great words in the CODT but just as we all are enjoying Bernie may spoil some people’s lunch next year.

  7. Jenson Button for COTD:
    Press: When you fight with Lewis, do you know that it will be a clean fight?
    JB: It is always respectful and I hope that it will stay that way. You know, when he spun for one moment I thought that I would wait for him… (laughs)
    How cool is that? Awesome!

    1. If he had done it… sure.

  8. Love seeing Button have some fighting spirit after such a good win. With the past couple races to go on, and Spa and Monza coming up, I have to say he is not unfounded in his optimism. This will be a looonnnggg break!

    Great race by Heikki today, David Hobbs said he was doing a heikki of a good job, and I love the funny tweet about overtaking Schumi.

    Anymore news out there about Schumacher deliberately spinning his W-02 when his gearbox failed so he could avoid hitting Massa and taking them both out of the race? Pretty considerate of someone who is often viewed as a dirty driver.

  9. Seems the name Briatore has emerged in the whole Bernie-bribe saga.

  10. RBR have no reason to be worried. They have a huge lead in the WCC and almost insurmountable lead in the WDC. This might come pretty hard on BUT, but apart from mixed conditions and HAM failing I don’t see him winning anywhere else. BUT fighting for championship must be a joke because I don’t see him getting ahead of HAM or ALO in normal conditions, let alone being consistent in that. Only way to put an end to VET’s dominance is by HAM or ALO consistently finishing ahead of the other and VET. Even if RBR finishes 6th in SPA or Monza it will not be a game-breaker for RBR. Hungary was the last chance to dent VET’s confidence and the other challengers have failed to achieve that.

  11. Well, you can’t fault Button’s enthusiasm and determination, I still think this year has Vettel written all over it. However, It almost worked for Alonso last year.

  12. Fantastic stuff from Button, when do you get a driver saying they are going to win them all?! Of course they won’t win them all, but the next two races lend themselves to the Mclaren car normally. It’s a shame we saw Vettel pull away further.

    Button was the right winner yesterday, but the wrong winner for the championship battle.

  13. It is just a pity for me that I had these reliability issues at the last two races and that probably ruined my championship.

    You mean the two 4th places you lost? True, he would be second right now in the championship but let’s be honest, Jenson was never going to be the one to lead the fight to Vettel in the long run. There simply aren’t going to be enough mad races for him to beat his team-mate, let alone Vettel, even taking 24 points into account.

    But he’s got to see it that way or he wouldn’t be a world champion already, would he?

  14. what a pathetic setup for 2012, halfy-halfy! Anyone care to bet that the next deal will be all Sky. Bernie is so greedy, how much is enough?

    1. Perhaps it was more the BBC had to cut their costs rather than Sky gave Bernie a better deal?

      Let’s be honest, no one knows, but the BBC are hardly the most lucrative.

  15. From the BBC Hungary Grand Prix Forum:

    “Did you enjoy the race today everybody?” – Jake

    “yeahhh!” – Crowd

    “Excellent, did you enjoy the BBC coverage?” – Jake

    “Yeahhh!” – Crowd

    “Yeah it was brilliant, better than SKY. We don’t want it on SKY!” – voice in crowd

    “That’s what?” – Jake

    “WE DON’T WANT IT ON SKY!” – voice in crowd

    “What? Let’s move on…” – Jake puts on puzzled face then walks away laughing

    Martin smiles

    “Well, censorship in it’s extreme!” – Eddie

  16. ‘and that is exactly what I am going to do’

    I love Button’s certainty. He’s not going to attempt it, he’s going to DO it. I doubt it’s going to be that simple somehow…

  17. I’m sure Newey and Vettel are trembling now. It’s not time for an end-zone dance yet. But Button’s talk is may be not that trashy if you consider that, if you hold your hand over the points table, and look at the wins tally instead, McLaren look pretty good: 4/10 races and two in a row now.

    You could say McLaren is on pace to win 8 races this year. When is the last time McLaren won 8 races in a year? In 2010 they won 5, and came within a shout. In 2008, they won 6, with 5 to Hamilton for the WDC. In 2007, 8 races, with two drivers going down to the wire for the title. Yes, a lot of things have to happen besides them winning another 4-5 races. But historically, McLaren are on pace to be there at the end. It will help,of course, if is not Jenson Button winning the races.

  18. why is everyone so anti Button on this site, he is as good as anyone in F1 at the moment, taking into account the bad luck in the last couple of races he could well be 2nd and effectively Vettels main challenger, not as aggressive and dynamic as Hamilton but a canny racer and a cool head and has pulled a few great moves also compared to LH … both have 2 wins this season, both are 1 x World Champ and Mclaren (publicly at least) treat both drivers equally, also good to see that there were no messages from Mclaren for either to back off when racing each other unlike RB & Ferrari

  19. Keith

    Now that we are past half way in the season, and on the 4 week break would it be possible or perhaps a nice idea to give the BBCs new commentary duo a bit of a mid year review?

    I personally think the new combination is brilliant, and the fact that they barely ever get mentioned on any forum either positively or negatively is i think testament to the quality commentary they have provided us with this year.

    1. except it infuriates me that Coulthard is always talking about “oh martin, dont you think he should get a penalty for that” to any driver that does something wrong other than a Red Bull, then straight away Bam! Under investigation. Yet when a Red Bull driver does something wrong he starts making excuses for them, and low and behold, nothing happens. Charlie Whiting/the stewards obviously watch the BBC feed and the fact Coulthard is still getting paid £4m a year by Red Bull might have something to do with this bias.

      Martin tho…… Legend. Made a few quips about being in the dole queue next year which made me howl.

      1. Those were extremely funny quips! But I suspect your theory is right.

  20. I like Kovalainen’s sense of humour!

  21. Jeffrey Powell
    1st August 2011, 21:54

    Is he (J.B.)serious .Yes! because he thinks he can sike his teamate and the team into thinkinkg he is a serious challenger. Most of this is in is mind but some is encouraged by others who are looking for an underdog to prevail. It will be a sad day if a Mid range driver wins the world championship again.

  22. rubber_side_down
    1st August 2011, 22:05

    What are the chances that our cool summer may play into the McLaren design, where it seems to be a faster paced throughbred?

  23. rubber_side_down
    1st August 2011, 22:30

    Keith thanks for the 1971 GP at Nurburgring memory. I had not seen film other than stills of this race. My buddy and I had the pleasure of attending that summer of 71. And yes Jackie lead the Tyrrells to a one-two. Been a fan of F1 forever since.

  24. rubber_side_down
    1st August 2011, 22:42

    You got to give Jensen credit for putting out the challenge. If he didn’t, how could one psych themselves into believing they can do it? Can he do it? Can Mc Laren stop the Bulls? The fickle nature of momemtum is sometimes wild. But, I’ve got to give Vettle credit for raising the bar so high it will be very difficult for any one to touch let alone surpass.

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