He drives hard for the money

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Written by Kate Walker

Thursday, 19 November 2009 09:46

One of the most mis-quoted lines in Shakespeare (aren’t they all?) comes from Hamlet. ‘The lady doth protest too much, methinks.’ While the Bard and F1 may not seem to be obvious bedfellows, they are. Where else can you find such drama, passion, and betrayal, neatly boxed and delivered in a two-hour format?

The announcement that Jenson Button would be leaving double World Champions Brawn GP for Vodafone McLaren Mercedes came as little surprise on Wednesday morning, following as it did on the heels of the ‘shock’ announcement that the 2010 grid would be bereft of the Ice Man, Finnish world champ Kimi Raikkonen.

Rumours of Button’s move first started when he missed the Brawn GP celebratory parade through Brackley. They gathered apace following his visit to McLaren’s Woking headquarters last Friday. No one pops in to say ‘hello’ after a 15-hour flight from Japan. Meetings after 15-hour flights are all about business and no mistaking.

The interweb is already in a lather about Button’s decision – will he humiliate himself going toe-to-toe against Lewis in the same machine? Will he humiliate Lewis by being better at preserving his tyres in light of 2010’s heavy fuel loads? Will he even drive for McLaren? There are those in F1 who think a contract with Button’s signature isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on.

Assuming that all will play out as expected, however, and we’ll see Button and Lewis lining up to try and win the double for McLaren in 2010, the most interesting aspect of the contract confirmation was buried in Martin Whitmarsh’s statement:

“I want to make clear that Jenson’s decision to join us was in no way motivated by money. We’ll be paying him no more than he could be getting elsewhere, and that fact is a reflection of not only Jenson’s belief in Vodafone McLaren Mercedes but also his desire and ambition to build on the phenomenal results he achieved during the 2009 season.”

It’s hardly the expected comment from a team principal who’s just announced a line-up of the last two world champions. And to come from a team principal who walks to the office every morning past miles of trophies for winning cars and drivers? Most odd. Almost a protestation, in fact.

Picture the scene: You’re running a team generally considered to be one of the sport’s two heavy-hitters. You know that your engineers turned a shocking car into one of the better cars on the grid over the course of the past season, and you’re optimistic about next year’s machine. You can offer your drivers top-class strategic and engineering expertise, the chance to drive a likely championship-contender, and a luxurious mobile environment in which to spend the season. What’s cash got to do with the press release?

Prior to the 2009 season, Button’s career was dogged with accusations of being a mid-field journeyman, only in it for the money. His career results were pretty unimpressive, especially for a man lauded as the new Schumacher in his debut season. Poor results on the track were matched by bad contract decisions, one of which cost him $30million to fix.

One hopes that by moving to McLaren, Button will have increased his chances of defending his championship in a car fit for the task. He may have had the same chances staying with Mercedes/Brawn GP, but until winter testing, no one knows for sure how much of the BGP001’s success was down to Honda’s time and money investments.

Button’s decision to move, if not motivated by money, seems to be an odd one. He’s either brave or foolish to want to fight Hamilton in the same car, let alone a car that has already been in development – with Lewis’s input – for a few months. It’s no secret that while Button can deliver smooth drives in a car with the perfect set-up, he’s not as good at getting the best out of a bad machine. (See Raikonnen’s 2009 season from the Hungaroring onwards for an example of how to do that well.)

Lewis is known to favour oversteer in his drives, whereas Button’s preference is neutral to understeer. McLaren could develop the car for Button, knowing that Lewis will be able to deliver regardless, but given that development is long underway, that seems unlikely.

Button’s relationship with Brawn/Honda/BAR is a long one – he first drove for BAR in 2003, and has been turning up to work at Brackley ever since. While the team has gone through a number of name changes in that time, the people have been largely the same.

Whether he knows it or not, Button has become a Brawn/Honda/BAR man through osmosis. He knows how to drive the cars they build, how to work with their engineers and crew, how to navigate the tricky waters of their corporate politics and philosophy. Moving to McLaren, even with #1 on his car, is a move to a team designed around Lewis. To drive a car designed around Lewis.

There are mutterings elsewhere on the interweb that Button could be hedging his bets – by developing a relationship with Whitmarsh similar to the one Lewis enjoyed with Ron Dennis, he could dethrone McLaren’s blue-eyed boy and take the number one spot in the team’s hearts, not just in their garage. Only time will tell on that front. I am loathe to believe the playboy from Frome is quite so Machiavellian, but who knows?

Bahrain, 14 March 2010. If winter testing doesn’t answer our questions, ‘The play's the thing. Wherein I'll catch the conscience of the King.’

Until next time…

Kate Walker

for Girlracer Magazine www.girlracer.co.uk