Smooth driving delivers a Shanghai victory for Jenson Button
There was a time not very long ago when the denizens of a kingdom comprising a cluster of small, rain soaked islands in the north Atlantic were allowed to forget their miserable geographical lot by the simple expedient of unfurling a map of the world. Blindfolded, they could point at almost any point on said map and thereby demonstrate the global reach of Britannia. In those days, wintry conditions in Scotland or an absence of fresh bananas in England could be forgotten about quite easily if sufficiently large numbers of the islands’ natives were located in happier places.
The exact same effect cannot be achieved today but an approximation of it is rendered possible by one of mankind’s greatest inventions: the jet aircraft. The British may not enjoy the same global reach they once did but money in the pockets of any of their number and the availability of affordable airline transportation to any part of the world has made it possible for them sometimes to believe that they still lord it over the world.
In the year 2010 an event as old as the planet itself has thrown all these grand ideas up in the air. A volcano called Eyjafjallajökull on an island in the cursed country of Iceland in the north Atlantic has erupted and produced so much steam and ash that it is now unsafe for jet aircraft to enter northern European airspace. Suddenly, Brits holidaying in far flung places like Fiji are forced to accept the bitter fact that home is an island in the north Atlantic, very far away, and there is now no way of getting to it quickly. Slower alternatives are now being considered by emergency teams at the offices of Her Majesty’s Government and the Royal Navy. Meanwhile, the rest of us are paralysed by a general election campaign during which each political party seems only to want to offer pain and suffering in the years ahead. At a time like this, it is understandable if the Brits are very down in the mouth.
This may be the case but it is far from the impression I got when I watched television pictures being beamed into my living room yesterday from a far away place called Shanghai. Union flags were being waved about, champagne corks were popping everywhere and a craggy old man called John Button had himself and a luscious, young female wrapped in a massive Union Jack as the latter kissed any camera lens which came within twenty yards of her. It was the end of an incident-packed Chinese Grand Prix which had produced a British rarity, an English one-two in the guise of McLaren drivers Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton and injected hysteria into the hearts of Jenson Button’s father, his girlfriend and the entire McLaren team. The fact that they and every other Formula One team are stuck in China until the Icelandic volcano starts behaving itself was completely irrelevant yesterday afternoon.
In a spectator’s dream race, the weather conditions – dry, then slightly wet, then dry, then wet – and the stop-start effect of crash-provoked safety car periods, the McLaren drivers demonstrated very clearly the gulf of difference between their approaches to being at the top end of Formula One. A crude but perhaps ideal summary was suggested by a television pundit yesterday: “while Button is a driver, Hamilton is a racer”. I think that is a little unfair to Button. What we saw yesterday was that an ability to gain a feel for the grip of a race track and predict the optimum points at which to come in for tyres can produce a second and a half advantage over a raw racer who overtakes everyone, does it all again and again but chews up his tyres in the process. Button had only two stops for tyre changes while Hamilton had four – and yet they ended up a second and a half apart with Hamilton closing on his team-mate in the final stages.
In terms of entertainment value, nobody produces more than Hamilton. Who will ever forget him twice humiliating seven times world champion, Michael Schumacher? In terms of cerebral, smooth, assured driving, however, Button is clearly ahead. So far it has produced two race victories for him while Hamilton hasn’t had any yet. One of the two driving styles could be the factor that decides the championship at the end of the year. It is too early to predict which.
What was surprising about yesterday was the number of drivers who got caught out by the first drops of rain. Whereas Jenson Button and Nico Rosberg (who finished third) felt confident enough to stay out on slick tyres, every other one of the big guns – including previous rain master, Michael Schumacher – chose to come in for intermediate tyres that all too quickly proved to be ill-suited to a rapidly drying track.
As we turn our minds to the European leg of the 2010 season (if the teams ever get to fly back home!), a look at the world championship points table shows just how unexpected the ultimate result may be:
Jenson Button – 60
Nico Rosberg – 50
Fernando Alonso – 49
Lewis Hamilton – 49
Sebastian Vettel – 45
Felipe Massa – 41
After four races and this set of figures, do you feel confident enough to run off to the bookies yet?
Gitau
19 April 2010
The exact same effect cannot be achieved today but an approximation of it is rendered possible by one of mankind’s greatest inventions: the jet aircraft. The British may not enjoy the same global reach they once did but money in the pockets of any of their number and the availability of affordable airline transportation to any part of the world has made it possible for them sometimes to believe that they still lord it over the world.
In the year 2010 an event as old as the planet itself has thrown all these grand ideas up in the air. A volcano called Eyjafjallajökull on an island in the cursed country of Iceland in the north Atlantic has erupted and produced so much steam and ash that it is now unsafe for jet aircraft to enter northern European airspace. Suddenly, Brits holidaying in far flung places like Fiji are forced to accept the bitter fact that home is an island in the north Atlantic, very far away, and there is now no way of getting to it quickly. Slower alternatives are now being considered by emergency teams at the offices of Her Majesty’s Government and the Royal Navy. Meanwhile, the rest of us are paralysed by a general election campaign during which each political party seems only to want to offer pain and suffering in the years ahead. At a time like this, it is understandable if the Brits are very down in the mouth.
This may be the case but it is far from the impression I got when I watched television pictures being beamed into my living room yesterday from a far away place called Shanghai. Union flags were being waved about, champagne corks were popping everywhere and a craggy old man called John Button had himself and a luscious, young female wrapped in a massive Union Jack as the latter kissed any camera lens which came within twenty yards of her. It was the end of an incident-packed Chinese Grand Prix which had produced a British rarity, an English one-two in the guise of McLaren drivers Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton and injected hysteria into the hearts of Jenson Button’s father, his girlfriend and the entire McLaren team. The fact that they and every other Formula One team are stuck in China until the Icelandic volcano starts behaving itself was completely irrelevant yesterday afternoon.
In a spectator’s dream race, the weather conditions – dry, then slightly wet, then dry, then wet – and the stop-start effect of crash-provoked safety car periods, the McLaren drivers demonstrated very clearly the gulf of difference between their approaches to being at the top end of Formula One. A crude but perhaps ideal summary was suggested by a television pundit yesterday: “while Button is a driver, Hamilton is a racer”. I think that is a little unfair to Button. What we saw yesterday was that an ability to gain a feel for the grip of a race track and predict the optimum points at which to come in for tyres can produce a second and a half advantage over a raw racer who overtakes everyone, does it all again and again but chews up his tyres in the process. Button had only two stops for tyre changes while Hamilton had four – and yet they ended up a second and a half apart with Hamilton closing on his team-mate in the final stages.
In terms of entertainment value, nobody produces more than Hamilton. Who will ever forget him twice humiliating seven times world champion, Michael Schumacher? In terms of cerebral, smooth, assured driving, however, Button is clearly ahead. So far it has produced two race victories for him while Hamilton hasn’t had any yet. One of the two driving styles could be the factor that decides the championship at the end of the year. It is too early to predict which.
What was surprising about yesterday was the number of drivers who got caught out by the first drops of rain. Whereas Jenson Button and Nico Rosberg (who finished third) felt confident enough to stay out on slick tyres, every other one of the big guns – including previous rain master, Michael Schumacher – chose to come in for intermediate tyres that all too quickly proved to be ill-suited to a rapidly drying track.
As we turn our minds to the European leg of the 2010 season (if the teams ever get to fly back home!), a look at the world championship points table shows just how unexpected the ultimate result may be:
Jenson Button – 60
Nico Rosberg – 50
Fernando Alonso – 49
Lewis Hamilton – 49
Sebastian Vettel – 45
Felipe Massa – 41
After four races and this set of figures, do you feel confident enough to run off to the bookies yet?
Gitau
19 April 2010
posted by Gitau at 1:53 pm
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