Button Break Lap Records, Again!

[Mark Webber]

Originally posted by neilap
MW, maybe I am. Its the wait that is the most painful part of the whole process. The media will take one interview and make 100 stories from it. I have never heard him so vocal to the point of sounding a little jealous/arrogant/angry but we know how quotes can be spun. How many days now?

Everyone admits that testing pace only means they are fast in testing. DR, GW, JB, Sato and all involved are doing their jobs and minding their own business. Everyone else are throwing stones at them suggesting they are all about deception. RS, MW and others had to go out of their way to put the teams times down . In truth no one if F1 thinks BAR Honda will be anywhere. MS was praising Toyota as though he was looking for a job in their second year. Jaguar was getting much praise for their pace last year too. Renault was the revolution of the year. BAR was again the disappointment, right? So now BAR gets tires that are not designed for someone else, and they are able to set reasonable times. Now, its them playing games with the times. Well, if they are (which I doubt) then they will face the embarrassemnt if not there will be a lot of "foot in mouth" disease going around in F1.

All good points neilap no doubt although I don't think Mark is "jealous/arrogant/angry" yes F1 stars can be misquoted and words can be spun . One of the main things I look foward to this year is our talks being Jag V Bar and Mark V Jenson but I hope that we have enough respect to each other to make it clean and just (which I think we do ) .
I agree BAR look fast ATM but we are not at the 1st race yet let alone the last .

3 weeks and counting

[Gt_R]

Hmmm.. honestly, i've partly, not fully, convinced that their performance are around THAT level.. not at the absolute top 3 league..but surely capable of fighting for podiums on certain tracks and be a consistent point fighter (as long as reliability is there).

The optimism is because with DR/Button/Willis experience with motorsports, it's really strange for them to build up the expectations sky high only to wait for it to crash down in Melbourne. To consistently put in fast test track, they are either desperate to get more sponsors (not too likely at this stage), or confident/comfortable of their pace.

Nextly, we have heard of last year's BAR was actually a very good car which is let down by the tyres which is supposedly costing them a second per lap. They reckon that they have matched Ferrari's RATE of developement throughout the season, hence maintaining a consistent gap to Ferrari's car. And they believe they could have finished on podiums and challenge Renault/Mclaren... so now they have the same tyres it gives them a realistic chance.

Really no point brushing off or underestimating any teams... unless we're talking about Jag/Minardi

[Led ZeppF1]

Ehm, Button aim the BAR's pre-season pace is real and not running on low levels of fuel.

http://f1.racing-live.com/en/index.h...17101321.shtml

[neilap]

There will always be doubters. Even if BAR should win the first race someone will have something to say proclaiming BAR to be unworthy. Thats fine. I will back BAR Honda if they win or lose, even if all they can do is race Minardi.

BAR dont have to prove anything to the media. All they have to do is go out a perform. No one can argue with numbers. If they are consistently fast and competitive then those who feel they are running illegal weight will have to come up with another excuse.

Oh yeah, by the way Renault ran extra light today. So light they did not even have brakes on the car. They came in 1st in testing.

[gttouring]

Honda has been at this awhile and this new batch ought to do better, they have been to the podium, and winners circel many times, the V10 era surely can''t elude Honda this long- good to see them doing well, even if it is testing- perhaps they can this year if but once..

[Led ZeppF1]

Jenson Button has insisted that BAR's continued impressive pace in testing is not being faked by low-weight glory runs.

He said, "The times have come as a consequence of the speed of the car, not because we are going out with fuel loads to set quick times."

http://www.autosport.com/newsitem.asp?id=26055&s=5