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Thursday, May 24, 2012

Jenson Button in McLaren reporting Mix-up

There are two stories out quoting Jenson Button in the lead up to Monaco, one from ESPN and one from Autosport but the final quote in both, while essentially the same provides two different perspectives on McLaren's Championship prospects.

ESPN quotes him as saying:

"It's amazing how few points people are getting this year. I think there have been 125 points up for grabs and the leader has 61 - it just shows you how mixed up this season is. Obviously you want to be as consistent as possible and the people that really understand the tyres and can consistently score good points are the people that are going to be there at the end. We've got to get back consistency, and obviously we've got be consistently winning, but I don't think that's going to happen for a while yet."

While Autosport's story says:


It is amazing how little points everyone is getting this year. I think there have been 125 points up for grabs and the leader has 61. So it shows you how mixed up this season is. Obviously we want to be as consistent as possible, but the people who understand the tyres and consistently score good points are going to be there at the end, and we have got to get that consistency. Of course we want to be consistently winning but I don't think anyone is going to be doing that for a while yet."


What is the truth? Are McLaren not going to win for a while or will no-one be winning consistently for a while? The two statements set out two radically different scenarios for the season ahead, one where McLaren fall down the pecking order and one where they maintain the status quo and move forward.

One of them is obviously a misquote but which one?  Having read Jon Noble's articles for many years I'd back his version but...I've asked @TheFifthDriver for clarification and am awaiting their response.