British backmarker claims he’d be world champ in a McLaren too
Jenson Button says he is a better driver than compatriot Lewis Hamilton - but only when it comes to racing a “bad car”.
Button supposedly told The People (the newspaper of record, folks):
“Lewis is a worthy world champion but he wouldn’t have done as well as me in my Honda… I mean, the guy has never been in a bad car. I think you learn from it and become a better driver trying to work with a bad car.
“If (I’d) had Lewis’ car then I’d have been world champion too.”
A case of sour grapes or is there an element of truth in Button’s comments? Frankly, we don’t see how Lewis would have done any worse than Jens, who had a pretty poor season - only Force India’s drivers finished below him in the drivers’ standings.
We concede that Jenson might well have won the title if he was driving for McLaren - but the fact is, there’s a very good reason why he’s not driving for McLaren: he’s not good enough, at least in the eyes of Ron Dennis and co.
Crasher bonus! Watch Jenson rip up Melbourne in 2006:
A brilliant lap by Button, we concede:
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2 responses so far
1 Garry // Nov 11, 2008 at 10:00 am
I can’t agree that Jenson is better than Lewis in a bad car.
They have both driven the same ‘bad’ car for a BBC2 prog and both did it in exactly the same time - 1:44.7
However Jenson had a dry track and Lewis had a wet track.
Just to compare the only other wet lap by an F1 driver was - 1:47.5
2 A Ludlow // Nov 11, 2008 at 11:00 am
Good point Garry, but people will forever strive to not give Lewis credit when it’s due to him.