McLaren, Hamilton, Button and Istanbul
Going home from Turkey with a 1-2 would have been McLaren’s dream result, no? Well it would have been had they not battled with each other for the lead 9 laps from the end, after the Red Bull incident it all seemed a little strange that they would be allowed to do so but neither driver showed the hot headed nature that ended Vettels race and they both carried on to finish but there were a few questions to be asked afterwards.
Both drivers had driven a good race up until that point and were heading towards 3rd and 4th, Hamilton had been fighting with the Red Bulls all the way and Button had been staying in touch and biding his time – this was the critical thing for the race as it meant he’d saved some more fuel over Hamilton – though that’s not in the most recent description of events.
Once the Red Bulls were out and the two McLarens were comfortably in the lead both drivers were told to save fuel in order to finish the race but Hamilton backed off more than Button and Button took advantage – Hamilton responded by re-passing a few corners later though I was left feeling that Button could have made it much more difficult for him – perhaps it was point made.
After the race it emerged that Hamilton had been told that Button wouldn’t overtake him – and that he was annoyed that Button had. McLaren have since clarified that the assertion that Button wouldn’t overtake wasn’t orders but an opinion based on the fact that both drivers were saving fuel. This does however indicate that there are team orders in F1 still otherwise Hamilton would have known that Button could potentially overtake despite an opinion to the contary and would have at least been watching his mirrors.
It also shows that the fuel rules are irritating, the McLarens were saving fuel as the penalty for carrying fuel around the track from the start means they wouldn’t have been able to stay in touch with the Red Bulls (who have a more efficient engine) so they fill the cars extremely close to the limit – a few laps of harder racing means that they then have to save fuel later on – please, this isn’t what we want to see. I know that fuel saving is the new way of calling off the race between drivers in the same team but I for one don’t want to see a race lost because a driver has to save fuel for the last 10 laps of the race.
Popularity: 8%
