BBC Presenters Jake Humphrey, David Coulthard and Eddie Jordan getting mobbed in the Brawn garage while interviewing Button

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport...one/8313518.stm

In my opinion the least talented driver ever to win the F1 championship

The most irritating though.

Excluding Damon Hill of course, always thought he was a better test driver than a racer, like Button, he was lucky to be in the best car on the grid in 1996.

But hey,, wether he is the least talented or not, he's still the new world champion

For once we are in agreement

No not excluding Damon Hill, hell not even excluding Hunt, Fittapaldi or Villeneuve!

so pissed off that somebody on the beeb commented on it being the first time One brit has passed the championship straight to another, obviously mislaid 1962-65

And 68-69 too

Another thing i found annoying is the fact they're saying that Brawn are the first ever team to win the constructors championship in their full debut season. Aren't they forgetting the achievements of the late Ken Tyrrell in 1971, a true legend of the sport.

I used to have a blue Scelextric Elf Tyrrell way back in the seventies

I saw a similar one to that on ebay go for over £100

But still, how dare they forget Tyrrell, Sir Jackie would'nt have been as legendary as he was without the great ken's cars

Well how does Button compare with the greats

POLE POSITIONS
1. Michael Schumacher ........ 68
2. Ayrton Senna ........ 65
=3. Jim Clark ........ 33
=3. Alain Prost ........ 33
5. Nigel Mansell ........ 32
6. Juan Manuel Fangio ........ 29
7. Mika Hakkinen ........ 26
=8. Niki Lauda ........ 24
=8. Nelson Piquet ........ 24
10. Damon Hill ........ 20
----------------------------------------
=33. Jenson Button ........ 7 (11th in British drivers list)

GRAND PRIX WINS
1. Michael Schumacher ........ 91
2. Alain Prost ........ 51
3. Ayrton Senna ........ 41
4. Nigel Mansell ........ 31
5. Jackie Stewart ........ 7
=6. Jim Clark ........ 25
=6. Niki Lauda ........ 25
8. Juan Manuel Fangio ........ 24
9. Nelson Piquet ........ 23
10. Damon Hill ........ 22
-----------------------------------------
=33. Jenson Button ........ 7 (10th in British Drivers list)

POINTS - BRITISH DRIVERS
1. David Coulthard ........ 535
2. Nigel Mansell ........ 482
=3. Jackie Stewart ........ 360
=3. Damon Hill ........ 360
5. Jenson Button ........ 321
6. Graham Hill ........ 293
7. Jim Clark ........ 274
8. Lewis Hamilton ........ 256
9. Eddie Irvine ........ 191
10. Stirling Moss ........ 186½

Doesn't prove a lot. He's a had shite cars for the majority of his career - you could argue all, apart from this season. In a sport where it is 90% based on the cars ability, rather than the drivers, stats mean naff all!

You could say that but this is the 1st season for a while where the emphasis on the driver has been more of a telling factor, yes Brawn had the better car aerodynamically but it is a more even spread nowadays, more like before the tech revolution that began in the late 70s

I mean this year, we've had 6 different winners (Button, Barrichello, Webber, Vettel, Hamilton, Raikkonen) driving 4 different makes (Brawn, Red Bull, McLaren, Ferrari), last year it was 7 winners (Hamilton, Massa, Raikkonen, Kovalainen, Kubica, Alonso, Vettel) driving 5 different makes (McLaren, Ferrari, BMW, Renault, Toro Rosso)

Yes but the years he spent driving a shit car, if he'd been any good a team with a better car would have snapped him up. He has basically won this championship because for 7 races he had a car that none of the other teams could compete with.

Hard to get noticed when you're in poor cars though. He's always had a pretty good reputation in F1 for being a very good driver, especially over-taking, but he can hardly show that when he's in a slow car.

Barrichello also had an amazing car at the start the season, but Jenson still beat him in every race...

I think the fact that he was consistently struggling in qualifying, yet getting decent finishes in the race proves he's a very decent driver in a quick car.

The one occasion where someone shone in a crap car in my view was Alonso, he had his 1st year in a Minardi and managed to qualify regulatly in the top 20 while his he was consistently about 3-4 seconds a lap faster than his teammate (Tarso Marques) who regularly failed to qualify.

Alonso is a class driver. If Mclaren didn't fuck him about he would of easily won the Championship. If Ferrari sort their car out, he'll dominate for many years...

Agreed. Got a shit hot car for the first 6 or so races and just managed to hang in there after that with mediocre results. Still though, he was very good at Brazil.

But hey, F1 is often about who has the most luck.

Alonso and Kimi are IMO the two best drivers in the field. Alonso is an out and out racer, and in a good car will piss the championship.

Kimi has so much natural talent. He barely even tries and he's always there or there abouts. Imagine how good he would be if he actually motivated himself.

Bullshit. You saw what happened with that Ferrari test driver when he came in so your statement means naff all.

Badoer AND Fisichella too, finished 2nd at Belgium in a Force India, stepped into a Ferrari and has been nowhere since.

Yes Button was helped by having a decent car with the best engine on the grid but it was his driving style and dogged determination when the good run finished that helped him finish in the points in every race except Belgium.

I dont think Brawn will have the same level of success next season (McLaren and Ferrari will have probably got their act together for 2010) but i would'nt rule out seeing him still picking up race wins on a regular basis.

Fair point, but how many more examples like that can you think of? Would also add that Ferrari didn't exactly have a great car this year, added to the fact it was a driver who had not raced for 10 years, and the cars are very, very different.

You have to be a good driver too, obviously, but I stick by the majority of the success is down to the car.

Yous both make good points, so I'm probably in a half way house between the two.

While it does take a good driver to win the Championship, you probably could have replaced Button with 9 or 10 drivers who would do just as good a job, if not better. To say that all 20+ drivers are all as equally good as each other is just not true, and if you're good enough, generally the big boys find out anyway.

A test driver rarely goes at full speed in the car. With the new rules brought in this season, they get fuck all time at the wheel and basically just have to make sure it works. Felt sorry for Badoer. Fair enough he was never great, but never stood a chance with the lack of practice he got. He actually got the highest apex speed at Spa, so he could've been quick.

I know, seeing that Badoer hadn't raced for nearly 10 years, he stood no chance with the testing ban in force.

What i'd suggest is using one of the friday practice sessions at race weekends to give test/young drivers time behind the wheel before getting the main drivers to do their work in the 2nd practice session. That would get around the testing ban and also give potential replacements for injured/underperforming drivers vital track time.