F1 Update from the iSport F1 Pitstop: While Ferrari and Fernando Alonso won a much needed race in Monza last weekend, iSport’s Motorsport Expert Kunal Shah believes that Jenson Button was the true star of the Italian GP.
Jenson Button has surprised me this season – not only with his pace and performance against a super-quick Lewis Hamilton, but also with his calm and composed approach in the Mclaren camp.
Ever since his surprise title win in 2009 and a subsequent move to Mclaren, almost everyone had spelled his doom. However, his performance this season has been far from it and in fact Button has not only won more fans in the Paddock, but also respect as a credible race driver.
Jenson sparkled in his debut year in Formula1 with Williams, but soon found himself lost in the glitz and glamour of the sport and of course a non-performing Renault (then Benetton) machine. His revival with the Honda Racing Team ended with Honda pulling out of F1 two seasons back.
However, this season he’s shown his race craft brilliance even while he’s not been the fastest driver on the circuit. He’s used his technical knowledge as a tactical advantage over team-mate Lewis Hamilton, who has usually out-paced him.
Button’s victories earlier in the season were down to his tactical brilliance and this was visible in Monza too. When most teams and drivers were confused on the f-duct advantage in Monza, the two Mclaren drivers chose two completely opposite setup options – with Jenson Button choosing making the bolder choice.
The 2008 F1 Champion Lewis Hamilton, opted for a low config setup minus the f-duct, whereas his championship successor and team-mate Jenson Button chose a setup with medium downforce, but with the f-duct. It is always known that Monza is a high-speed circuit and teams and drivers, usually prefer the smallest (narrowest and flattest!) rear wing possible. Such was Button’s setup preference that the ‘Vodafone’ on his Mclaren rear wing was most visible as compared to all other team sponsors!
However, as a result of his setup choice, Button’s downfall on the main straights as compared to Lewis was nearly 20kmph – suicidal as many experts would say for Monza. It is this very reason why I believe that Jenson Button was the star in the Italian GP.
Button was at his best as he jumped Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso at the start and then drove error-free to keep the lead from the charging Ferrari’s for 35 laps – classical world champion stuff! The Ferrari’s were seen carrying almost negligible rear wing and had clocked much higher straight line speed in qualifying and the Ferrari was clearly faster than the Mclaren. (Fernando Alonso also clocked the fastest lap of the race).
The race always belonged to Ferrari and Fernando Alonso, unless both the drivers (Alonso and Button) would have pitted on the same lap. Mclaren decided to call Button in first and switch to the harder tyre, which they believed was faster in comparison to the 35-lap old soft compound tyres. They used Renault’s Robert Kubica’s laptimes as a reference point and they weren’t totally wrong in their assessment.
The rest is history – we saw a classic Monza type battle at the exit of the pit lane and at the entry of Turn 1. Both the race contenders came side-by-side, with Fernando holding the inside line. Ferrari’s pit-crew won the race for Alonso. (Read Italian GP: Ferrari’s Pit Crew Deserve Credit by iSporter Maharshi Vaishnav)
My star driver in Italy was Jenson Button. It does take guts to carry much wing in Monza and still hold the pace of the race while being chased by faster cars. Whether Jenson successfully defends his World Title this season or not, he’s clearly shown that while he might not have the out-right speed as Lewis Hamilton, he surely has the technical and tactical advantage over his British team-mate.
Kunal Shah is a former racer and writes extensively on www.isport.in
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