The Curious Case of Jenson Button

It’s official, Jenson Button has won the F-1 crown for 2009… Jenson who?  He’s the bloke who’s been around in F1 for nearly 10 years now with just one GP win till this season, that’s who! Jenson’s winning season is not bad when you look at the victory column, which reads an impressive 6 victories, the typical number that has brought championship wins over the years. However, a closer look at the reasons behind the champ’s success tells us a much different tale. The prime reasons for his victories have been (A) Significant technology edge (B) Only a single retirement (c) Driving the car home within the points. Solid performance no doubt nevertheless it begs the question-would other championship contenders have performed as well with similar cars?
 
Jenson’s victories have all come through the first 7 races till which time the team enjoyed a distinct speed advantage through their unique double diffuser system. Therefore, the race wins were expected of Jenson. But as soon as that advantage vanished the Brawn car was on par with the other cars and maybe a shade down on a couple of cars in a few races. This still meant that an average performance of around 4-5 in qualifying would have been a par performance for a champion driver. But while Jenson’s performance in qualifying across the first seven races was a commendable 2.14 the next nine races shows a dismal average of 8.56! That number is over 3 points down on the par score expressed earlier. Jenson simply doesn’t have the speed to compare with other great drivers on the grid like Kimi, Felipe, Alonos, Lewis and Vettel. This lack of qualifying pace indicates how dismal Jenson’s pace has been and it’s only through a reliable car with a distinct early advantage has Jenson managed to win this year. Enjoy the moment Jenson but although you’ve paced yourself well, you’re not quite on the pace!