CurryAngel Posted October 10, 2011 Share Posted October 10, 2011 Absolutely - right now, there's little argument that Button is a better driver than Hamilton.  Bollocks. Button is an average driver, always has been always will be. The Canada race, as amazing as it was, was clearly an aberration   This thread's gone a little quiet, but I've been enjoying the last few races immensely. Button's established himself as the 2nd best driver at the moment, and certainly the number 1 driver at McLaren. Hamilton's certainly in the middle of some sort of crisis; I hope he changes management, perhaps goes back to his dad?  Even though Vettel's won this season easily, it masks the fact that we've had closer races this year generally than I can ever remember before. Often there's not more than 10-20 seconds covering the top 6, and 3 teams whose pace is incredibly close at this stage of the season. It's a testament to how dominant Vettel is that he lays the smack down race after race even though his teammate is back in the pack with the McLaren and Ferraris.  Best season I can remember, 4 former world champs battling it out round ever corner, bring on the last few races!   Well my opinion on Button has changed over the past couple of months, he's been doing a great job. Well deserved win for him and, while I'll never be a massive fan of him, it's nice to see him showing up Hamilton.  With all the talk of Hamilton, Button and Vettel I'd like to give a mention to Fernando Alonso who is just phenomenal. The Ferrari is the 3rd fastest car on the track and they've stopped development on it for this year but he is still always up there fighting for a podium place. Easily the best driver in the field and I hope he wins a couple more titles before he retires.  Oh, and if you're stuck for something to do for 10 minutes and fancy a bit of a laugh go to: www.thef1slate.com It's quite funny I think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LariatTom Posted October 10, 2011 Share Posted October 10, 2011 Button has really impressed me this season. He's shown a great level of maturity at times and has put in some absolutely fantastic drives. For me, he's earned the position of #1 driver at Mclaren for this season, and his position in the championship reflects this. I realised yesterday that this was his first all-dry race win for Mclaren. He won two mixed weather races last season in Australia and China, and then he won in Canada with one of the best drives in recent years and Hungary (where there was drizzle and some drivers went onto intermediates). It's removed the small idea in my mind that he could only win in mixed conditions, and I'm glad he's done it.  If Mclaren can provide their drivers with a great car from the start of next season, then the championship will be very interesting indeed. Red Bull will no doubt be strong and with Ferrari having concentrated on their 2012 car for a while, I'm expecting them to come out of the blocks quickly.  Possibly the best news for me though was that Schumacher led the race yesterday! It may have been because he hadn't pitted, but that was his first time in the lead of a Grand Prix for 5 years. Also well done to both Team Lotus cars for finishing on the lead lap (albeit with some luck from the safety car).  The problem for Hamilton is there doesn't seem to be any options for him in or outside F1 at the moment - Red Bull and Ferrari are built around Vettel and Alonso so he'd arguably be in a worse position than he is now at McLaren. Taking a sabbatical or switching sport doesn't seem to fit in with 19 Management side of Hamilton either and wanting to keep his profile up. If Mercedes sort themselves out next season that might end up being the best place for him as I think his contract with McLaren is up at the end of that season too and he could have the team focused around him there the following year.  I'll throw something into the mix. There were a few articles doing the rounds from fairly reputable sources a few weeks ago that Mclaren were looking to establish as a brand in the USA through racing there. They've already got some technology in NASCAR if I'm correct and the suggestion was that they'll either throw their hat in for some Indycar involvement or they'll go ALMS racing with the MP4-12C.  Could Hamilton, who has been with Mclaren virtually his entire racing life, go racing in America and spearhead the Mclaren operation over there? He won't go to Ferrari while Alonso is there and making the team his own, he *might* go to Red Bull once Webber leaves within the next few years, but I wouldn't be so sure of that. Mercedes probably won't want to throw megabucks at him, and after that there aren't any other teams who would give Hamilton a car with which he can challenge for wins and titles.  It's a bit of a longshot, but if Mclaren were worried about him going to other teams and he were to get bored of F1 for whatever reason, this could be a viable option. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members BigJag Posted October 11, 2011 Paid Members Share Posted October 11, 2011 Hamilton has tested a NASCAR. It was more of a publicity thing however. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sergio Bellend Posted October 11, 2011 Share Posted October 11, 2011 Hamilton has tested a NASCAR. It was more of a publicity thing however. Â I think 'tested' is a bit of an exagerration. As you say, it was a publicity stunt they did so I doubt he got the car up to anything approaching race speeds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LariatTom Posted October 11, 2011 Share Posted October 11, 2011 Indeed, it was a swap with Tony Stewart where they did some laps in each other's cars around Watkins Glen earlier this year. It wasn't anything more than a PR day though. Â Will Buxton has written a pretty good article about Hamilton here: http://willthef1journo.wordpress.com/2011/...-hamilton-gone/ Â I thought it was pretty well written, but it raises the point that I did (to some extent) about Hamilton possibly walking away and going to race in the States. If he did go racing, I can imagine he'd be pretty good over there once he adapted to the cars and oval racing, and it really could make him a huge sports star. I think the chances of him walking away are slim, but there's always that possibility. Drivers like Button have expressed a desire in recent years to continue racing past their F1 career and go off to series such as Aussie V8 Supercars, NASCAR and Le Mans. Â Speaking of V8s, did anyone catch the Bathurst 1000 over the weekend? Really good race and a HUGE accident. The driver was lucky to walk away from it, and the marshals deserve some form sort of reward for bravery/stupidity for going on track to tackle the fire. Brilliant job from those guys. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilJll5hzd9Q Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sergio Bellend Posted October 11, 2011 Share Posted October 11, 2011 I don't think Hamilton would do any good in Nascar really, it'd be a silly move for him. While Montoya has done reasonably well over there, that is because he really is a exceptional all-round driver who is good on ovals, road and street courses and in different types of cars, but there are many other open-wheel racers who have struggled there-Franchitti, Hornish and Speed to name a recent few that show success elswehere doesn't guarantee it in Nascar. Admittedly they were in underfunded teams, but I don't see any reason for Hamilton to even consider leaving F1. Â Sure he's had a silly year, but he's still one of the two best drivers in F1 on his day (with Alonso, though Vettel isn't far off now), he is in a team that can produce a championship winning car, and he won't make as much money anywhere else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members BigJag Posted October 12, 2011 Paid Members Share Posted October 12, 2011 Speaking of V8s, did anyone catch the Bathurst 1000 over the weekend? Really good race and a HUGE accident. The driver was lucky to walk away from it, and the marshals deserve some form sort of reward for bravery/stupidity for going on track to tackle the fire. Brilliant job from those guy"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilJll5hzd9Q"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilJll5hzd9Q[/url] Â Was the race on TV in the UK? Might try and catch a replay. Â Wow! The fire looked almost CGI. Very sinister the way it ignited and made it's way to the car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loki Posted October 12, 2011 Share Posted October 12, 2011 Speaking of V8s, did anyone catch the Bathurst 1000 over the weekend? Really good race and a HUGE accident. The driver was lucky to walk away from it, and the marshals deserve some form sort of reward for bravery/stupidity for going on track to tackle the fire. Brilliant job from those guys. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilJll5hzd9Q Â Wow. Seconds away from a terrible, terrible death. Those marshalls absolutely saved his life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LariatTom Posted October 12, 2011 Share Posted October 12, 2011 Speaking of V8s, did anyone catch the Bathurst 1000 over the weekend? Really good race and a HUGE accident. The driver was lucky to walk away from it, and the marshals deserve some form sort of reward for bravery/stupidity for going on track to tackle the fire. Brilliant job from those guy"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilJll5hzd9Q"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilJll5hzd9Q[/url] Â Was the race on TV in the UK? Might try and catch a replay. Â Wow! The fire looked almost CGI. Very sinister the way it ignited and made it's way to the car. Â It was on Motors TV. No doubt they'll have repeats, or at least highlights, at some point in the next week or two. Â You guys are right though, those marshals are absolutely brilliant people. If the FIA have some form of award for marshals, these guys must deserve it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LariatTom Posted October 16, 2011 Share Posted October 16, 2011 Huge accident in the Indycar race from Las Vegas with 15 of the 34 cars involved. Dan Wheldon has been airlifted to a hospital nearby, but at the moment, there's no word on his condition/injuries apart from a few drivers saying that he's in a serious way. Â The crash is on YouTube for anyone wanting to look it up, but that's definitely the scariest crash I've seen. Absolutely horrible stuff, thoughts are with Wheldon and his family at the moment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patiirc Posted October 16, 2011 Author Share Posted October 16, 2011 Huge accident in the Indycar race from Las Vegas with 15 of the 34 cars involved. Dan Wheldon has been airlifted to a hospital nearby, but at the moment, there's no word on his condition/injuries apart from a few drivers saying that he's in a serious way. The crash is on YouTube for anyone wanting to look it up, but that's definitely the scariest crash I've seen. Absolutely horrible stuff, thoughts are with Wheldon and his family at the moment.  Fuck that's Horrendous Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twelve_grand Posted October 16, 2011 Share Posted October 16, 2011 Grim stuff from the Las Vegas Indy Car. Wheldon is one of my favourite drivers. He's funny and massively talented. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twelve_grand Posted October 16, 2011 Share Posted October 16, 2011 Dan Wheldon is dead. This is terrible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patiirc Posted October 16, 2011 Author Share Posted October 16, 2011 TMZ are reporting it as confirmed  http://www.tmz.com/2011/10/16/dan-wheldon-...d/#.TptWIZsp-rw Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators neil Posted October 16, 2011 Moderators Share Posted October 16, 2011 Amazed they even pulled him out in one piece Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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