Jenson Button, who has struggled with the McLaren MP4-27 since winning the Australian Grand Prix, says the unpredictable nature of Formula One could drive fans away from the sport. Is he mad?
For the first time in the sport’s history there have been six different winners from the opening six races. Those wins have been shared among five different manufacturers, with only Red Bull collecting a pair of wins.
“Clearly everyone is excited about so many different winners, which initially was great for the fans and great for the sport. But there will come a time when the fans will say, ‘So anyone can win a grand prix, everyone can lose a grand prix like that?’ (snaps his fingers),” claims Button.
Sorry, but isn’t it a good thing if “anyone can win a grand prix”? At the same point in the season last year Sebastian Vettel had five wins, Hamilton one. Two different winners, two different teams.
Moreover, the opportunity of winning the championship last year was limited to former residents of Heppenheim, but only if they drove a Red Bull. Indeed, Vettel ended up winning 11 out of 19 races, the remaining eight were shared between only four others.
How is that any better than what we’re seeing this year?
Button added, “I think they’re (fans) finding it a little bit strange now. I don’t know, but hopefully a pattern will emerge after the next couple of races and we’ll understand the teams and drivers we need to beat to win the championship.”
We can’t speak for all F1 fans, of course, but here at AUSmotive HQ we reckon the fact that the title race is so open is a damn good thing. We’d not complain if Mark Webber won all the remaining races, but with the likelihood that that won’t happen, give us a situation where we don’t really know what to expect in any given race over a predictable procession any time.
[Source: The Press Association]
6 replies on “Button says unpredictable F1 is bad for fans”
What a crock of shit.
So knowing who is going to win the race is exciting to watch?
Button must just be worried that his fans aren’t real fans. Real fans watch race in race out regardless of whether their favorite driver is a chance of winning. Obviously everyone wants their favorite driver to win, but when it’s unpredictable like this season it’s even more exciting. When it’s unpredictable you can theorize without end the possibilities of who could win, which is interesting itself.
Jesus Christ, where to start..
From the fact that its not just a single driver saying this, so I’m unsure why hes been singled out, to the fact that comparing a lucky dip draw thus far to one single previous season that was an aberration is a facile argument…
I’m just rather hoping that the tyre issue will be a thing of the past sooner rather than later as teams figure them out and we can return to a more normal state of being where the rivalries between the best performing teams start to form and play out as has been the case in the majority of past seasons (and is much of what the history of the sport is based on) as is the case in almost any other sport on the planet you’d care to name, rather than this ‘Deal or no Deal’ type of show we have atm.
He should already be able to tell who he has to beat… Red Bull.. As they are 1 and 2…
Jenson, “Massa is faster than you. Can you confirm you understood that message?”. 🙂
It’s just the whinging pom again. Nothing to see here.
Interesting to see that for the first time in his career, Hamilton is the most mature driver in the McLaren garage.