Apr.27 (GMM)  It is Jenson Button’s “really intelligent approach” that is paying off so far in 2010, according to his former boss Ross Brawn.

After two wins on damp tracks so far in 2010, the reigning world champion is currently leading the world championship.

But throughout the winter, most experts predicted that Button, 30, would be blown away at least initially by Lewis Hamilton.

His friend David Coulthard wrote in his latest Telegraph column: “I told you so.”

Brawn, who replaced Button with Michael Schumacher this year but insists the Briton switched to McLaren for the new challenge, told Reuters that F1 is again seeing the “natural Jenson” who won many races early in 2009.

Brawn said the more conservative and tense driver in the second half of the season was the result of the “pressures” of the championship battle.

“He’s not looked necessarily quicker than Lewis, but he’s doing a better job and he’s getting the results,” he added.

Former long time McLaren test driver Pedro de la Rosa said most paddock regulars did not expect Button to have the upper hand over Hamilton.

“Hardly anyone counted on that,” he told the Swiss newspaper Blick.

“He (Button) has stayed calm and had very few problems with the tyres.  But I know Hamilton’s strengths.  He will soon wake up and strike back,” de la Rosa predicted.

Indeed, when asked to name his picks for the eventual title battle, the Spaniard answered: “Good question, difficult answer.

“Hamilton, Vettel or Alonso — and not necessarily in that order!”

Apr.27 (GMM)  Jenson Button left F1′s Brackley based team to prove to his critics that he is a worthy world champion, according to Ross Brawn.

When Button, 30, announced as the new champion that he was leaving Brawn to seek a new challenge in 2010 alongside Lewis Hamilton at McLaren, that explanation was not universally believed.

At the time the Briton apparently made his decision, Nico Rosberg was already under contract for 2010 and rumours were building that Michael Schumacher was set to launch a full return to formula one to drive Mercedes’ new works car.

Paddock rumours are still rife that Button’s “new challenge” reason was a cover-story for Brawn effectively ousting the new reigning world champion.

But Brawn said on Monday: “I was disappointed Jenson left.

“He felt people were of the opinion he only won the world championship because he had the best car.  So he left us to show them he could do it again elsewhere,” he told The Sun.

“He also wanted to prove himself at McLaren against the guy who is probably the fastest and most naturally talented in motor racing — Lewis Hamilton,” continued Brawn.

“He’s set himself a massive challenge and he is doing very well so far.”

Brawn insists that the split did not affect his off-track friendship with Button, who is currently leading the world championship after winning two of the opening four races.

“We are still friends.  We were on the same flight back from Malaysia and we had a good chat.

“Jenson was a fabulous member of our team last year but now he is the history and we have to beat him,” added Brawn.

Apr.20 (GMM) The first races of his McLaren career prove that F1 should not always leap to quick judgements, Jenson Button said before departing for a holiday in Thailand as the new championship leader.

The reigning world champion joined the British team in 2010 amid widespread claims he would be destroyed by McLaren’s much-loved incumbent Lewis Hamilton.

But after four races, 30-year-old Button has outqualified Hamilton on three occasions, while winning two races compared to his 25-year-old teammate’s none.

In comments published in the Guardian, Button suggested he had been hurt by the F1 world’s pre-season predictions.

“Sometimes we should sit back and watch and enjoy instead of speaking out aloud too much. It (the predictions) might be true in the future, you never know. I don’t know.

“But I feel happy with what’s happening now,” said the Melbourne and Shanghai winner.

Hamilton, however, is expecting the tide to turn soon, after his recent drives through the field were described by some pundits as among the best of his career.

“I feel I have had great races,” he agreed, “but he (Button) has taken the right decisions and taken the easier route. I have had the harder route and got good results but hopefully soon I will take the easier route.”

Hamilton said in the Telegraph that he is not surprised about Button doing well so far in 2010.

“There was a lot of stuff about him joining my team and I would be favoured … I am really happy for him. He did a better job and I am sure that when the tables turn, as they will, it will the same for me,” said the Briton.

He also played down suggestions that, while the first cracks appear in the relationship between Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa, the same will happen at McLaren.

“I don’t think it will happen with us,” said Hamilton. “The good thing with me and Jenson is that we clearly want to beat each other, but Jenson is very smart and does not have that too-aggressive flair in him and neither have I.”

In the Daily Express, meanwhile, Button described Hamilton’s unyielding racing style as “like a pitbull”, adding that he loves “having a teammate who’s like that”.

Sebastian Vettel pulled the proverbial rabbit out the hat with another magnificent last gasp effort that saw him steal pole position in the dying moments of qualifying for the Chinese Grand Prix at Shanghai International Circuit.

The young German, fresh from victory in the Malaysian Grand Prix, left the best for the very last as he turned the tables on a strong showing from the McLaren Mercedes duo and his own team mate Mark Webber who briefly topped the timing screens, and must have believed he had it in the bag, before Vettel once again made it count when it mattered with a mega effort which even surprised his team boss.

Christian Horner said afterwards, “I have no idea where Sebastian pulled that lap from. He’s been struggling in sector one all weekend and he pulled a great lap just to pip Mark.”

With Webber in second, Red Bull Racing will once again hog the front row of the Shanghai grid for the start of the Chinese Grand Prix.

Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) who was relatively subdued up until the final moments of qualifying was third fastest and will head up the second row with Nico Rosberg (Mercedes GP) beside him in fourth.

The McLaren duo who looked feisty all session wrong will be disappointed that their best in Q3 was only good enough for fifth and sixth for Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton respectively. The reigning champion getting the better of his team mate who up until Q3 was dominating proceedings and seemed destined for pole position, alas for him destiny had other plans.

Hamilton was clearly disappointed, “We were doing so well in practice, Q1 and Q2, then the car started bottoming a lot more in Q3. I really don’t understand what was wrong with the car. We have to go and analyse it.”

This report is in the process of being updated.

Qualifying Lap Times

Vodafone McLaren Mercedes preview the forthcoming Chinese Grand Prix to take place at the Shanghai International Circuit on the weekend of 16 to 18 April 2010.

“Last year, they moved the race from the end of the season to the start, and the weekend was quite a bit colder and wetter than it had been before. The weather forecast doesn’t currently suggest this year’s event will be any different – but I’m optimistic that we’ll have a dry weekend and a more straightforward race than we did last year”, said Button.

“Nonetheless, it’s a track I enjoy: it’s a typical modern circuit – it has a real mix of corners, but it manages to combine some quite precise and technical sections with some faster corners and long straights. It’s a good drivers’ circuit while also being a place that benefits from a well-balanced car”, added.

“I think I’ve made some real progress in that area, though. I wasn’t completely happy with the balance of the car in Malaysia, so I spent a day back at the McLaren Technology Centre looking at how we could have done things differently in Sepang while also looking ahead to Shanghai”.

“Along with my engineers, I think we’ve developed an even better understanding of the MP4-25. We know how to fine-tune the car’s balance and how to develop it over a race weekend. Of course, it’s a continuous process, but the overall feeling is that we’re moving forwards – which, again, is always a positive.”

After the chequered flag flew in Bahrain, McLaren ordered Jenson Button to shortly begin a 30-hour return to Europe. Flying to F1’s next stop, Shanghai, would have cost the reigning world champion just five hours in the air, and only a couple more hours would have had him relaxing in his Japanese girlfriend Jessica’s native Japan.

But McLaren wanted Button, 30, to instead complete the 21,000 kilometre marathon for just a single working day at the wheel of the sophisticated driver simulator at Woking.

He will then fly from the UK back to Asia for a holiday, prior to completing the journey to China for round four next weekend.

“Thirty hours travel for one day,” Button smilingly contemplated before leaving Kuala Lumpur. “But it will be worth it, hopefully.”

After winning in Melbourne, Button comparatively struggled in Malaysia, climbing to eighth on Sunday while his teammate Lewis Hamilton finished a highly-commended sixth from lower on the grid.

Button is struggling with the balance of the MP4-25, while McLaren want him to hone the latest developments that are due to be added to the package in Shanghai.

“The great thing is our car is improving all the time, but I’m still not 100 per cent happy with its balance,” the Briton said.

“Hopefully we can sort out some of the problems in the simulator. It’s a long way back but they wouldn’t be sending me unless there were a few things to test.”

The first three official test days for the 2010 Formula One World Championship have concluded, and if we had to choose a short sentence to define them it would be, “Ferrari is a step above the rest.”

Even though, they’re just doing tests, the teams need to check-out and take the most advantage possible of the cars so to confirm the actual performance of the single-seaters and carry out the improvements and adjustments that are needed.  That’s what it’s all about.  It’s worth noting that since the first day, the Brazilian, Felipe Massa at the wheel of the Ferrari F10 evidenced the supremacy of the red racing car in the Valencia racetrack (right in these moment), during the second official tests.  We’ll see what happens.

Talking about single-seaters, several options have been seen.  Some quite innovative, as is the case of the Mercedes GP with its “double airbox”; the Toro Rosso’s union of the sharp fin with the rear wing, etc.  Different solutions to the problems that were brought forward to the engineers regarding the cars’ design.

Having said that, Ferrari returns to the leading positions forecasted by the experts.  The F10 looked solid with great rhythm in the long portions, with an exceptional performance of the red racing car driven by the Spaniard, Fernando Alonso, who made his debut today with Ferrari.  Alonso only needed one training session in the Comunidad Valenciana Ricardo Tormo Circuit to show that he was the fastest of all the pilots who have participated in these three days of collective tests.

The pilot from Asturias started out with the intention of making clear that he’s not just a Ferrari passer by, stopping the chronometer in 1:11.470, better time than his team-mate Felipe Massa, who marked the rhythm during the first two testing sessions.

Alonso won seven times Massa’s best time, and he made most of the more than one hundred racetrack’s laps in 1:12, a devastating rhythm.

However, the surprise of these tests has been in charge of the BMW-Sauber, in the hands of his pilots Pedro Martinez de la Rosa and the Japanese, Kamui Kaobayashi.  They have shown options to be on top.  The clear evolution of the BMW 2009 together with Ferrari engine’s performance has resulted in a machine with ambitions.

Both pilots have concluded in second position during the three testing days.  They have followed Ferrari’s wake in sessions that have helped Pedro to recover the feeling of a team’s official pilot.

As De la Rosa, the German, Michael Schumacher has recovered the control of an F1, the Mercedes GP, showing to be a step behind the Ferrari and the BMW-Sauber, during the first contact of the season.

The new and remodeled Toro Rosso has improved from last year, as well as the Spaniard, Jaime Alguersuari who complied with in his debut.  He has only driven one day in Cheste, but it has been helpful enough to show him he can finish among the best.  He got the best fourth time of the session, better than the time of his team-mate, Sebastien Buemi, and try to learn all that he can to continue progressing in the Formula 1.

The most noticeable note in a negative sense was given by the current world champion, Jenson Button who with his McLaren had to be pleased with the fifth best time, far from the Ferrari.  Together with Button, the Renault R30 still does not convince us.  In spite of the innovations and changes, the single-seater has not been able to find the solution.  Let’s hope Kubica can contribute with his experience to improve the car.

The afternoon session has been calmer than the morning.  At the beginning of the session, Alonso and Schumacher lapped 1:15 high, with a lot of fuel in the tank.

The fuel weights and single-seaters’ performance marked the start of this session.  In his initial laps, Jaime Alguersuari had a slip that caused him to leave the track, but after returning to the boxes he reintegrated without great consequences.

With the single-seaters in the racetrack, De la Rosa, Petrov, Button and Alguersuari, the Spanish pilot of the BMW Sauber began to get good times, without decreasing his record.

With a 1:12 rhythm, De la Rosa began the afternoon as the fastest at the Ricardo Tormo, while Petrov improved the R30 performance notably with 1:13:666.  Nonetheless, the one who didn’t seem to be comfortable in the racetrack was the current champion, Jeson Button who was running over 1:13, far away from the “Kaiser’s” times.

Alonso with 180 liters of fuel, has to modify his style and form of driving the F10.  The pilot from Asturias, today could not stop lapping, therefore taking the most advantage of these official tests.

As time went by and the bi-champion’s single-seater used its fuel, he started to reduce his times, again.  After his stop at the boxes at 16:01, he began to run in 1:13, possibly with medium fuel charge.

When the session ended, , the  Ferrari finished rolling in 1:12 lows, after 127 laps to the Valencian circuit.  In this moment, Vitaly Petrov marked his best time, 1:13.097.

1º. Fernando Alonso 1:11.470 in 127 laps
2º. Pedro de la Rosa 1:12.094 in 79 laps
3º. Michael Schumacher 1:12.438 in 82 laps
4º. Jaime Alguersuari 1:12.576 in 96 laps
5º. Jinson Button 1:12.951 in 82 laps
6º. Nico Hulkinberg 1:13.669 in 126 laps
7º. Vitaly Petrov 1:13.097 in 76 laps

The third day began with the “variable” of watching Fernando Alonso drive the F10 for the first time.  This morning, the Valencian Community Ricardo Tormo Circuit was at a complete standstill.  A crowd of fans who gathered to see Alonso made long lines of cars in the A-3 freeway, a long distance the exit that leads to the Circuit.

While regularly it takes around 3-4 minutes to access the Circuit, today it almost took 20 minutes.  The expectation aroused by the pilot from Asturias was unbelievable.  If yesterday we spoke of 7000 people who attended the Circuit, today the amount was estimated in more than 20.000 people present.

Today has been a complete day.  It was possible to watch the three Formula One Spanish pilots in the racetrack: Fernando Alonso , Pedro Martinez de la Rosa and Jaime Alguersuari.  In addition, to the current champion, Jeson Button and Michael Schumacher who also rolled out.

The debuting racing cars start at 10 AM on the dot.  The single-seaters start to roll out and we see Fernando Alonso passing by with his new blue helmet (Asturias flag); he is ahead.  Nonetheless, the “first fright“ came with De la Rosa when unexplainably he stopped on his tracks, just when he was marking the best time.  The marshals showed a red flag.  Up to that moment, Fernando had just made one reconnaissance lap.

The march starts again and the pilots start to roll their cars.  Fernando Alonso makes the best time, stopping the chronometer at 1:12.160.  After that, he reduced his time on five consecutive laps.  Just as well it’s the first time he rolls with this car.  How many hours would he have made in the simulator?

Behind the pilot from Asturias, Schumacher marks his best score; he’s fourth in the time table and goes to boxes.  The difference between Alonso and Schumacher is of 1.007.  There was a morbid fascination in the racetrack.

Subsequent to his stop, Schumacher starts to lower his times.  De la Rosa still has the second best time; the BMW C29 is performing well.  It looks solid in the track.

In this moment, the current champion, Jeson Button appears.  He makes his official debut with McLaren.  During his first laps his times were far away from the best (1:18.420), six seconds behind the Spaniard.  The British is still in adaptation period with his new single-seater.

A great surprise comes when the pilot from Asturias improves the time achieved by Felipe Massa, yesterday.  The Brazilian made 1:11.722 and Alonso pulled off 1:11.709, in that same lap.  Schumacher also lowers his time, remaining at 7 tenths of the Spaniard, and Pedro marks a best lap, too  Aren’t this petty quarrels?

At any rate, the show was in the racetrack.  The F10 seems to please the pilot from Asturias, who in his first contact had the satisfaction of making a debut record, but subsequent to his return to the boxes he lowered again his best time.  When a little more of two hours of testing had elapsed, he stopped the chronometer at 1:11.599.

The third Spaniard in the racetrack, Jaime Alguersuari, rolled with consistent times all morning long.  He was ahead of Button, specifically, fourth place in the time table.  However, the most significant aspect is that his times are better than those of his team-mate, Sebastian Buemi.

The last stage of the morning session starts to stabilize.  Alonso starts to advance in 1:12 lows, a great rhythm.  While “Schumi” and De la Rosa follow him at half a second.  Everything seemed to indicate that the session would end in that monotony, but the pilot from Asturias returns with all his might; he wants to see the F10 potential and stopped the chronometer at 1:11.600.  We were all surprised, but a bit later, 3 minutes later, he makes 1:11.470; he lowers his time again.  Wasn’t it supposed to be his contact with the F10?

At 2 o’clock the time came to stop and have lunch.

Morning times:
1º. Fernando Alonso 1:11.470
2º. Pedro de la Rosa 1:12.094
3º. Michael Schumacher 1:12.438
4º. Jaime Alguersuari 1:12.576
5º. Jenson Button 1:13.783
6º. Nico Hulkenberg 1:14.410
7º. Vitaly Petrov 1:14.707

Today, Tuesday, Jenson Button celebrated his 30^th birthday with his mind set on winning the Formula 1 title again, before the first meeting with Lewis Hamilton since both champions became team-mates in McLaren.

“There is the interesting piece of information that says that 70 percent of pilots who win the world championship cannot make it the next season.  I will try to be in the other 30 percent that wins again, and I’m mentally prepared.  I’m working on that,” Button said.

Button is aware that his greatest rival will be by his side, his team mate Hamilton.  “It’s understandable that the team wants Lewis; it must.  Lewis is a world champion who has been with them for three years, and he has performed remarkably well,” he stated.

The existent champion recognizes he has to adapt to his new team mates and engineers.  “When tests begin, we have to work together and share everything.  The clue for us will be to be ready in the first race.  Communication is essential when you integrate into a new team.  You can be the best engineer or pilot in the world, but if you don’t bond it’s impossible to work,” Button added.