Jenson Button Confirmed As McLaren Driver For 2010

Jenson Button has been confirmed as a McLaren driver for the 2010 season following a turbulent week in the driver market.

The current reigning World Champion is moving to the team, to partner Lewis Hamilton leaving behind the Brawn GP team just a day after it was taken over by German automotive giant Mercedes Benz.

Button joined the Brawn set up way back when it was called BAR in 2003 following on from a drive with Renault.  Button had no luck until 2009 when he smashed the field in a fantastic car built by mastermind Ross Brawn.

“It’s always a difficult decision to leave a team when you’ve been there for so long,” said Button. “But life is all about challenges – and, most important of all, it’s about challenging yourself.

“So, although I won the world championship with Brawn GP last year, and I’ll never forget that, I was always adamant that I wanted to continue to set myself fresh challenges. So that’s why I’ve decided to join Vodafone McLaren Mercedes.

“You can’t help but be affected by this team’s phenomenal history. McLaren is one of the greats of world sport, and its achievements and list of past champions read like a Who’s Who of Formula 1 – Emerson Fittipaldi, James Hunt, Niki Lauda, Alain Prost, Ayrton Senna, Mika Hakkinen and of course my new team-mate Lewis Hamilton. I’ve followed the McLaren team ever since I was a small boy, and it feels unbelievable to finally be a part of it.”

Button visited the McLaren technology centre earlier this week, and says he is very impressed with the outfit.

“When I visited the McLaren Technology Centre earlier this month, it wasn’t simply the technical resources and the incredible standards of excellence that impressed me,” Button said. “No, I was equally struck by the ambition, the motivation and the winning spirit that flow through everybody there. And then there’s the team’s epic history: put it this way, the trophy cabinets seem to stretch for miles.”

But Button has already come under criticism from past drivers for jumping ship, most notably from Jackie Stewart the three time world champion.

“I think it’s a mistake by Jenson,” he said. “If I was Jenson, I would’ve wanted to do a deal with Brawn – because I know the culture of the Brawn team, I have high respect for Ross Brawn, I know the mechanics.

“There’s a totally different culture in McLaren, something that he might never have experienced before. They have a very clinical culture which doesn’t have the emotion or the drive in the same passionate way that Brawn would have had with him there as the reigning world champion.”

Mercedes Benz Buy Controlling Stake In Brawn GP

Mercedes Benz have announced that they have purchased a controlling 75% stake in the Brawn GP team.

The German automobile giant had been speculated with a move to Ross Brawn’s championship winning team, which it supplied engines too in 2009, since September and today’s announcement seeked to tidy up the paddock thoughts ahead of 2010 preparations.

It is now likely that Brawn, who won both titles in their maiden season, will be re-named Mercedes Benz Grand Prix however Ross Brawn will stay on as Team Principal alognside Norbert Haug of Mercedes Motorsport.

Mercedes Benz will also be pulling out of McLaren with the team having to buy back the 40% shares over 2 years, but remain with the German’s as an engine supplier until 2015.

Jenson Button is now set to go to McLaren to race alongside Lewis Hamilton, the Briton visited the factory earlier this week.  He claims not to be motivated by cash in the move, however his salary is likely to be greater than the £3.5million Brawn offered him.

With Nico Rosberg looking ever more likely to head to the new Mercedes GP team, Nick Heidfeld is a suprise team mate choice, Norberg Haug says he has held various meetings with the perennial underperformer ousted from BMW this season.

“We are speaking with Nick Heidfeld as well,” Haug told DPA.

“Mercedes-Benz supports the idea of signing an experienced and capable German driver. There is however no reason to finalise the driver situation too hastily.”

More news this evening.

Abu Dhabi GP 2009: Vettel Wins Final Race Of Season

Sebastian Vettel clinched the final race win of the season in a thrilling evening race in Abu Dhabi.

It was the emirates first ever F1 Grand Prix, and I think I am one of many who will be heaping praise on the new Yas Marina Circuit, its fantastic facilities, near perfect track and brilliant conditions led to a terrific weekend to cap off the 2009 season.

Vettel’s team mate Mark Webber came in 2nd place, holding off a real late surge from World Champion Jenson Button who tried everything to get passed the Australian but couldn’t so had to settle for 3rd place.

In truth, Lewis Hamilton should really have been in first or at least on the podium, but reliability struggles hit the out-going World Champ, his brakes failing and the McLaren mechanics not willing to keep a potentially dangerous car out on track.

Button had a slight embarrasing moment when star rookie Kamui Kobayashi pulled off some epic overtaking to put his Toyota ahead of the Brawn car during the first stint, the Japanese going on to finish 6th and almost certainly securing himself a 2010 drive with Toyota.

Rubens Barrichello missed out on the runner up spot, and in potentially his final race with Brawn GP finished in 4th, having to hold off massive pressure from Nick Heidfeld who tried to give BMW their best send off possible.

Yesterday’s birthday-bo Sebastien Buemi cleaned up with the final points as some big names finished well down the table, with Heikki Kovalainen finishing 11th, Raikkonen 12th and Fernando Alonso 14th.

Giancarlo Fisichella had a poor send off in potentially his final Grand Prix, getting a drive-through penalty and ending the day down in 16th.

Look out for The F1Fanatics Blog Official 2009 Season Review soon!

Pos  Driver        Team                      Time
 1.  Vettel        Red Bull-Renault      (B)  1h34:03.314
 2.  Webber        Red Bull-Renault      (B)  +    17.857
 3.  Button        Brawn-Mercedes        (B)  +    18.467
 4.  Barrichello   Brawn-Mercedes        (B)  +    22.735
 5.  Heidfeld      BMW Sauber            (B)  +    26.253
 6.  Kobayashi     Toyota                (B)  +    28.343
 7.  Trulli        Toyota                (B)  +    34.366
 8.  Buemi         Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)  +    41.294
 9.  Rosberg       Williams-Toyota       (B)  +    45.941
10.  Kubica        BMW Sauber            (B)  +    48.180
11.  Kovalainen    McLaren-Mercedes      (B)  +    52.798
12.  Raikkonen     Ferrari               (B)  +    54.317
13.  Nakajima      Williams-Toyota       (B)  +    59.839
14.  Alonso        Renault               (B)  +  1:09.687
15.  Liuzzi        Force India-Mercedes  (B)  +  1:34.450
16.  Grosjean      Renault               (B)  +     1 lap
17.  Fisichella    Ferrari               (B)  +     1 lap
18.  Sutil         Force India-Mercedes  (B)  +     1 lap

Abu Dhabi GP 2009: Hamilton Storms To Pole

Outgoing World Champion Lewis Hamilton stormed today’s qualifying session in Abu Dhabi, taking pole position.  His team mate Heikki Kovalainen wasn’t so lucky and instead of it being a 1-2 for McLaren, he only managed 13th and will take a 5 place drop for a new gearbox.

Instead in 2nd and 3rd we have the two Red Bull’s, and Jenson Button takes up 5th.

Giancarlo Fisichella and Fernando Alonso were big names out in Q1, and Kimi Raikkonen didn’t even make it into Q3 for his final qualifying with Ferrari.

 

Pos  Driver       Team                       Q1        Q2       Q3
 1.  Hamilton     McLaren-Mercedes      (B)  1:39.873  1:39.695 1:40.948
 2.  Vettel       Red Bull-Renault      (B)  1:40.666  1:39.984 1:41.615
 3.  Webber       Red Bull-Renault      (B)  1:40.667  1:40.272 1:41.726
 4.  Barrichello  Brawn-Mercedes        (B)  1:40.574  1:40.421 1:41.786
 5.  Button       Brawn-Mercedes        (B)  1:40.378  1:40.148 1:41.892
 6.  Trulli       Toyota                (B)  1:40.517  1:40.373 1:41.897
 7.  Kubica       BMW-Sauber            (B)  1:40.520  1:40.545 1:41.992
 8.  Heidfeld     BMW-Sauber            (B)  1:40.558  1:40.635 1:42.343
 9.  Rosberg      Williams-Toyota       (B)  1:40.842  1:40.661 1:42.583
10.  Buemi        Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)  1:40.908  1:40.430 1:42.713
11.  Raikkonen    Ferrari               (B)  1:41.100  1:40.726
12.  Kobayashi    Toyota                (B)  1:41.035  1:40.777
13.  Kovalainen   McLaren-Mercedes      (B)  1:40.808  1:40.983
14.  Nakajima     Williams-Toyota       (B)  1:41.096  1:41.148
15.  Alguersuari  Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)  1:41.503  1:41.689
16.  Alonso       Renault               (B)  1:41.667
17.  Liuzzi       Force India-Mercedes  (B)  1:41.701
18.  Sutil        Force India-Mercedes  (B)  1:41.863
19.  Grosjean     Renault               (B)  1:41.950
20.  Fisichella   Ferrari               (B)  1:42.184

 

Abu Dhabi GP 2009: McLaren Dominate FP2

Heikki Kovalainen showed his best sign yet of trying to cling with both hands to his McLaren seat for 2010 with a startling performance in FP2 on the new Abu Dhabi F1 circuit.

The Finn was some 2 tenths faster than team mate Lewis Hamilton as the chrome McLaren’s dominated the second practice session.

Kimi Raikkonen gained some hope for Ferrari with 10th, while Robert Kubica’s day ended with flames as his BMW engine gave up.

Pos  Driver       Team                       Time              Laps
 1.  Kovalainen   McLaren-Mercedes      (B)  1:41.307            35
 2.  Hamilton     McLaren-Mercedes      (B)  1:41.504  + 0.197   34
 3.  Button       Brawn-Mercedes        (B)  1:41.541  + 0.234   39
 4.  Vettel       Red Bull-Renault      (B)  1:41.591  + 0.284   37
 5.  Kobayashi    Toyota                (B)  1:41.636  + 0.329   34
 6.  Buemi        Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)  1:41.683  + 0.376   37
 7.  Webber       Red Bull-Renault      (B)  1:41.684  + 0.377   34
 8.  Barrichello  Brawn-Mercedes        (B)  1:41.831  + 0.524   38
 9.  Rosberg      Williams-Toyota       (B)  1:41.931  + 0.624   39
10.  Raikkonen    Ferrari               (B)  1:41.987  + 0.680   39
11.  Sutil        Force India-Mercedes  (B)  1:42.180  + 0.873   28
12.  Nakajima     Williams-Toyota       (B)  1:42.245  + 0.938   36
13.  Heidfeld     BMW-Sauber            (B)  1:42.278  + 0.971   36
14.  Trulli       Toyota                (B)  1:42.409  + 1.102   30
15.  Liuzzi       Force India-Mercedes  (B)  1:42.530  + 1.223   33
16.  Alonso       Renault               (B)  1:42.782  + 1.475   29
17.  Fisichella   Ferrari               (B)  1:42.932  + 1.625   37
18.  Grosjean     Renault               (B)  1:43.021  + 1.714   37
19.  Alguersuari  Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)  1:43.022  + 1.715   39
20.  Kubica       BMW-Sauber            (B)  1:43.708  + 2.401   13

Abu Dhabi GP 2009: Hamilton Fastest In FP1

Lewis Hamilton got off to a flying start at the first ever Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at the Yas Marina circuit, topping the timesheets just ahead of potential new team mate Jenson Button.

Vettel and Barrichello were also strong as they fight it out for 2nd place in the title standings.

 

Pos  Driver       Team                       Time               Laps
 1.  Hamilton     McLaren-Mercedes      (B)  1:43.939             18
 2.  Button       Brawn-Mercedes        (B)  1:44.035  +  0.096   20
 3.  Vettel       Red Bull-Renault      (B)  1:44.153  +  0.214   28
 4.  Barrichello  Brawn-Mercedes        (B)  1:44.207  +  0.268   23
 5.  Heidfeld     BMW-Sauber            (B)  1:44.667  +  0.728   23
 6.  Buemi        Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)  1:44.687  +  0.748   32
 7.  Sutil        Force India-Mercedes  (B)  1:44.688  +  0.749   14
 8.  Webber       Red Bull-Renault      (B)  1:44.805  +  0.866   25
09.  Alguersuari  Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)  1:44.955  +  1.016   33
10.  Trulli       Toyota                (B)  1:44.958  +  1.019   25
11.  Kubica       BMW-Sauber            (B)  1:44.988  +  1.049   22
12.  Kovalainen   McLaren-Mercedes      (B)  1:45.123  +  1.184   20
13.  Rosberg      Williams-Toyota       (B)  1:45.649  +  1.710   27
14.  Nakajima     Williams-Toyota       (B)  1:45.679  +  1.740   25
15.  Raikkonen    Ferrari               (B)  1:45.704  +  1.765   27
16.  Alonso       Renault               (B)  1:45.865  +  1.926   23
17.  Liuzzi       Force India-Mercedes  (B)  1:46.239  +  2.300   22
18.  Fisichella   Ferrari               (B)  1:46.267  +  2.328   26
19.  Kobayashi    Toyota                (B)  1:46.364  +  2.425   28
20.  Grosjean     Renault               (B)  1:46.411  +  2.472   27

Hamilton Not Concerned By New Team Mate

Lewis Hamilton has told a British newspaper that he is not concerned by who his team mate for 2010 will be, as long as there is harmony within the team.

Hamilton, who spent the entirety of his first season in Formula One arguing with Fernando Alonso (who is now Ferrari bound for next season), has had 2 seasons alongside Heikki Kovalainen which has proved productive for the Briton winning the 2008 title.

With Kovalainen’s place within the team in serious doubt, there is a good chance Lewis will be lining up against another new driver for 2010.  The new man could be Nico Rosberg, Jenson Button or even Kimi Raikkonen.

Even if it was Button, the 2009 champion, Hamilton isn’t too fussed.

“I don’t mind who comes to the team as long as they come in peace and bring peace and want to be productive and move the team forward,” Hamilton told the Daily Mail.

“I’d welcome Jenson as my team-mate,” said Hamilton. “He’s a level-headed and very committed guy. He earned the world championship and he’s done a great job over the years. I couldn’t be happier for him.”

“He will be a tough competitor next year – whether at Brawn or McLaren.”

Italian GP 2009: Barrichello Takes Strategic Win Of Quality Race

Rubens Barrichello took the chequered flag, and another win for himself and the Brawn GP team in today’s Italian Grand Prix after  a fantastic strategic effort from Ross Brawn.

The single stop strategy employed by the white cars of Brawn led to Jenson Button joining Rubens on the podium in 2nd, with Kimi Raikkonen being gifted 3rd place on the last lap.

Race Review

Lewis Hamilton didn’t get a great start, unlike Kimi Raikkonen and the Finn was forced onto the grass going down to the first chicane.  He managed to make a pass on Adrian Sutil, while the rest of the field fed around without bother – Timo Glock the only driver having to use the escape road.

Then into the second chicane, the first major incident – Robert Kubica tipped Mark Webber’s Red Bull round into the gravel and the Australian was forced to retire after just a handful of corners.  The incident led to front wing damage to Kubica’s BMW, and the Pole was forced into the pits some laps later as the FIA were concerned about its’ safety at 220mph.

Heikki Kovalainen had a terrible start, losing out to Barrichello and then Liuzzi and Alonso, despite claiming pre-race that he could win the GP and indeed his KERS system.

Hamilton then started to pull well away from Kimi Raikkonen, who to all intents and purposes held up Adrian Sutil as the Ferrari looked to struggle.

These 3 drivers at the top on 2 stop strategies made a big gap over the two Brawn’s behind them, and then Tonio Liuzzi held 7th well with Fernando Alonso hustling the Renault behind him, trying to squeeze every last bit of performance from the R29.

Hamilton pushed incredibly hard, the McLaren right on the ragged edge many times.  He pitted early, and Raikkonen & Sutil pulled ahead.  Hamilton was released into favourable traffic ahead of Liuzzi and Alonso.

With Raikkonen and Sutil then pitting, the now lighter Brawn’s pulled well away with Rubens Barrichello holding a good dap lead over championship rival and team mate Button.

Robert Kubica ended up retiring, with some kind of oil leak – although Martin Brundle claimed on BBC television that they were saving the engine as they were nearing their allocation limit.

Tonio Liuzzi too had a scare when he was driving through towards the Roggia chicane when at around 200mph the clutch appeared to break completely and the Force India driver ended his day in the sliproad of that chicane.  Disappointing after a fairly good weekend.

Giancarlo Fisichella looked largely average making his Ferrari debut, losing out on positions to various drivers, which in the end meant he finished the race in 9th place just behind Sebastian Vettel.  A shame for Fisichella not to score points on his debut.

After the final stops, Hamilton came out in 3rd behind the two Brawns and immediately started chasing.  Hamilton said after the race every lap was like “a qualifying one”.  Raikkonen and Sutil had a pitstop race, but both made mistakes! Raikkonen nearly stalled leaving his box, and Sutil tried to run down half his pitcrew.  Raikkonen came out in front and despite massive pressure would hold Adrian off until the end of the race.

The final piece of action really came from Lewis Hamilton, who, chasing down those Brawn’s managed to lose the car on the exit of the first Lesmo, spinning and smashing into an unforgiving tyre/concrete mixed barrier.  He ripped lots of bodywork off the car and left it strewn across the track. The ensuing double waved yellows and safety car board [in vein!] Raikkonen cruised passed and into 3rd place.

Classified Results

Pos	Driver	Team	Time
1	R. Barrichello	Brawn Mercedes	1.16.21.706
2	J. Button	Brawn Mercedes	+2.866
3	K. Raikkonen	Ferrari	+30.664
4	A. Sutil	Force India Mercedes	+31.131
5	F. Alonso	Renault	+59.182
6	H. Kovalainen	McLaren Mercedes	+1.00.693
7	N. Heidfeld	BMW Sauber	+1.22.412
8	S. Vettel	Red Bull Renault	+1.25.472
9	G. Fisichella	Ferrari	+1.26.856
10	K. Nakajima	Williams Toyota	+2.00.000
11	T. Glock	Toyota	+2.43.925
12	L. Hamilton*	McLaren Mercedes	+1 lap
13	S. Buemi	Toro Rosso Ferrari	+1 lap
14	J. Trulli	Toyota	+1 lap
15	R. Grosjean	Renault	+1 lap
16	N. Rosberg	Williams Toyota	+2 laps

*: Lewis Hamilton crashed on the final lap but was still classified by order of being 1 lap ahead of other runners classified lower.

Fastest Lap: A. Sutil (Force India) – 1.24.739

Retirements

Driver	Team	Lap	Reason
L. Hamilton	McLaren Mercedes	55	Crash
V. Liuzzi	Force India Mercedes	23	Clutch
J. Alguersuari	Toro Rosso Ferrari	20	Unknown
R. Kubica	BMW Sauber	16	Oil Leak
M. Webber	Red Bull Renault	1	Crash

Italian GP 2009: Post Qualifying Reaction

Here are some interviews with drivers and team bosses following today’s qualifying session for the 2009 Italian Grand Prix at Monza.  This is a new idea to collaborate interviews in one easy, simple post.  Let me know what you think.

Lewis Hamilton (GBR) – McLaren Mercedes – Qualified: 1st

“It was a very close qualifying session…and they (Force India) are incredibly fast and competitive, but our team did a great job this weekend. I was able to put the lap together. It’s such a great feeling to put that lap together, the public have to imagine what it is like, it is the most exciting exhilarating thing.

“I guess we have to wait and see what the strategies are for everyone tomorrow, but we feel quite comfortable and needed to be where we are,”

Adrian Sutil (DEU) – Force India – Qualified: 2nd

“It is a great moment, a great deal. The whole weekend was a big success already. We did good work, and the car is amazing, really quick.  It’s unbelievable, it is so good for the team especially after the Spa success.  We continued it here and just being competitive, it is such a different feeling in the car right now. You know you have a chance.

“It’s a good feeling like the racing driver is back in me. I enjoyed every single moment.”

Kimi Raikkonen (FIN) – Ferrari – Qualified: 3rd

“It is not perfect for sure but it shows us again that once we put race fuel in the car it is stronger against the others.  The car is more difficult in Q2 than in Q1 or Q3. It has been very good all weekend. We have some issues with it but unfortunately we cannot fix them as well as we want.  Overall, with race fuel the car is running nicely and I am very happy with it.

“We (will) give the best and hopefully give the best for our Italian fans and ourselves.”

Jenson Button (GBR) – Brawn Mercedes – Qualified: 6th

“All weekend I’ve been pretty happy with the car, and it got better in qualifying. It went well on both high fuel and low fuel.  I think we can go well from there [sixth]. My team-mate slightly pipped me, by 15 hundredths, which is a pain, but we’re in a good position.

“I want to go out there and win this race. We’ve done the best strategy not to just score points but to do the best job we can this weekend. I think our strategy is good and I’m looking forward to it.”

Timo Glock (DEU) – Toyota – Qualified: 16th

“It’s frustrating to miss out on second qualifying when I was only sixth tenths away from the fastest lap of the session,” said the Toyota driver, who will start from a disappointing 16th position.

“We looked quite promising this morning but we didn’t transfer all of that speed to qualifying, and I wasn’t helped by traffic.”

Jaime Alguersuari (ESP) – Toro Rosso – Qualified: 20th [5 place penalty]

“I was not expecting much from this session, after problems in the morning with my gearbox meant I only did ten laps in free practice,” said the Spanish rookie.

“Because of that, I did not have the time to try much in terms of setting up the car. Therefore, we carried over some unknown factors into qualifying and I have to say, I am still getting used to driving the car in this low downforce configuration.

“I hope I can still have a good race tomorrow and to be honest, I hope it rains.”

http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa124/f1fanatics/1%20Pictures%20For%20News%203/13ItalyFP2.jpg

Italian GP 2009: Qualifying, Hamilton Takes Pole

Lewis Hamilton slotted his McLaren into pole position for tomorrow’s Italian Grand Prix, as the KERS and Mercedes Benz engined cars made the most of their performance advantage.

Indeed, Adrian Sutil will line up alongside Hamilton, his best ever qualifying in the Force India.  Kimi Raikkonen stares down Hamilton’s back end and will be looking for a good start, and possibly a 2nd win in a row for the Scuderia.

Kovalainen, Barrichello, Button and Liuzzi continue down to 7th, making it 6 cars in the top 7 with the Mercedes power units.

Alonso takes 8th, something to remove the limelight of Crash-Gate away from Renault.  His rookie team mate Romain Grosjean is down in 12th.

Splitting them are the Red Bull’s who really have lost their way over the past few Grand Prix.  Fisichella takes 14th in his first qualifying for Ferrari.

Jaime Alguersuari qualified last, and also takes a 5 place penalty for changing Gearboxes.

Post qualifying reaction here:

Pos  Driver       Team                       Q1        Q2        Q3
 1.  Hamilton     McLaren-Mercedes      (B)  1:23.375  1:22.973  1:24.066
 2.  Sutil        Force India-Mercedes  (B)  1:23.576  1:23.070  1:24.261
 3.  Raikkonen    Ferrari               (B)  1:23.349  1:23.426  1:24.523
 4.  Kovalainen   McLaren-Mercedes      (B)  1:23.515  1:23.528  1:24.845
 5.  Barrichello  Brawn-Mercedes        (B)  1:23.483  1:22.976  1:25.015
 6.  Button       Brawn-Mercedes        (B)  1:23.403  1:22.955  1:25.030
 7.  Liuzzi       Force India-Mercedes  (B)  1:23.578  1:23.207  1:25.043
 8.  Alonso       Renault               (B)  1:23.708  1:23.497  1:25.072
 9.  Vettel       Red Bull-Renault      (B)  1:23.558  1:23.545  1:25.180
10.  Webber       Red Bull-Renault      (B)  1:23.755  1:23.273  1:25.314
11.  Trulli       Toyota                (B)  1:24.014  1:23.611
12.  Grosjean     Renault               (B)  1:23.975  1:23.728
13.  Kubica       BMW-Sauber            (B)  1:24.001  1:23.866
14.  Fisichella   Ferrari               (B)  1:23.828  1:23.901
15.  Heidfeld     BMW-Sauber            (B)  1:23.584  1:24.275
16.  Glock        Toyota                (B)  1:24.036
17.  Nakajima     Williams-Toyota       (B)  1:24.074
18.  Rosberg      Williams-Toyota       (B)  1:24.121
19.  Buemi        Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)  1:24.220
20.  Alguersuari  Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)  1:24.951