BUTTONHOLED! Grabbing Jenson was my idea says Lewis Hamilton at McLaren launch

By Jonathan McEvoy Last updated at 12:06 AM on 30th January 2010 Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button spent the evening prior to Friday’s launch of the 2010 McLaren car dining together at The Vineyard at Stockcross, an award-winning restaurant near Newbury. Button was a little vague about who picked up the bill. His dad, John, he thought possibly. Let’s hope it wasn’t Hamilton, because it transpires the Buttons may owe him a meal as a thank-you for his careers advice. For Hamilton has revealed he nominated Button, who replaced him as world champion, to be his new team-mate. Teamwork: Button poses for Hamilton at the car launch ‘I actually called Martin (Whitmarsh, the team principal) and said, “What about Jenson?” It was before they had any negotiations. I was asking what was going on.’He’s the best driver there is and the team wanted to get the best driver possible. I want the best team-mate I can possibly have to score points alongside me. When he’s winning I have to be finishing second, and vice- versa. I can’t win the constructors’ championship on my own. Picture perfect: Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button complete an all-British line-up at McLaren ‘You want someone to push you. I’ve no doubt Jenson will be hard to beat.’ If that’s what he really thinks, Hamilton’s recommendation was either born of confidence, because he believes he can handle Button, or naivety-cum-generosity in putting the team’s needs before his own. A third interpretation is that Hamilton wanted Button because he viewed him as easy meat. Best friends forever: Lewis and Jenson share a joke Privately, senior figures at McLaren feel Hamilton will finish the season at least a couple of turns ahead of Button, who will contribute regular points to the constructors’ championship. Even so, would the easiest way to produce a world champion driver not be to adopt the anticipated Mercedes model in which one man, Michael Schumacher in the case of the German team, is an outright No 1? Whitmarsh said: ‘We’ve a philosophy that started a long time before I was in this team, which is to get the best drivers we can. They drive the team on. ‘Inevitably, if they are taking points off each other and you’re fighting a one-man team then it becomes difficult. But it’s great to go motor racing with two honest and talented drivers. I think it will…

Source: Daily Mail

Posted by admin 30 January 2010

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