McLaren's Jenson Button has said Fernando Alonso must win the F1 Drivers’ title by more than seven points this coming weekend in Abu Dhabi, otherwise his success will be 'tainted' by what happened at Hockenheim back in the summer.

Button is now mathematically out of the title race following last weekend’s Brazilian Grand Prix and while Alonso is currently best placed to succeed him – and take the crown for a third time – the German Grand Prix controversy, when Felipe Massa moved over to let the Spaniard win, threatens to cast a shadow over his possible success.

"I just hope if he [Alonso] wins it then he does so by more than seven points,” Button told British tabloid newspaper, The Sun. "Some will be disappointed with what happened at Hockenheim and question whether he deserves it.”

So who would he like to see take the title now?

“I don't care who wins it really,” Button added. "But I like the way Red Bull let their drivers fight. That is the way it should be.

"You fight all the way through your career to get into F1, to get into a good car, to win races. If you still have a chance of winning the world championship, you should be given equal opportunities and it is good to see they have said that is important.

"I don't know who will win, it is very close. I'd say it is between Mark Webber and Fernando," Button concluded.

 

from the man with the most questionable title of recent memory, i guess he feels like Boris the Bullet Dodger after Brazil

 

Alonso has done fantastically well during the second half of the season to get to wear he is but he has never once been able to outpace the Red Bulls. The only reason he's won so many races in the second half is due to stupid mistakes and reliability issues by RBR.

A Red Bull driver DESERVES to win the title, imo. Now, whether or not that actually happens when the dust settles after Abu Dhabi is a completely different matter.

 

I hope Button takes out Alonso. That will make the McLaren-Ferrari rivalry even more interesting.

 

Agreed - it was all the Brawn GP car that carried Button in 2009. His struggle for consistent performance at McLaren is indicative of his career and abilities - as is the downward slope he had even with a superior car in the latter half of the season. Button's way overrated and I don't think the Massa incident will overshadow Alonso's THIRD championship.

 

Some may question if Button deserved his title last year...

 

+1.

 

You could say that about Webber though too. His whole career he has been in the middle of the pack. All of a sudden you give him the best car on the track and he's a title contender.

I am hoping Alonso wins this year. If Red Bull cant seal the Constructors and Drivers Championship with that car, then it's just plain embarrasing. You give that Red Bull car to Alonso or Schumacher (in his hayday) and there is no chance the championship is even remotely close at this stage.

 

You can't say that about Webber because unlike Button last season Webber has been a consistent front runner who's 3 wins in a row was taken away by his own teammate and his only mistakes have been Korea and Valencia. Button easily had the fastest car on the grid but struggled in qualifying and struggled to get podiums while Rubens showed the car was still strong with his wins and pole positions in the second half of the season. Button saying this to the press reminds me of a pot calling a kettle black

 

I completely disagree. With Honda/BAR - Button was almost a middle-to-back of-the-pack driver and was way overhyped coming into F1. As has been noted, once other teams caught onto the Brawn GP's advantage with the double diffuser - by mid-season Button's ability to contend for podiums eroded quickly. Hell, Kobayashi pulled a crazy pass on him that he couldn't fight off and Kamui was in a Toyota!

Good for Jenson on using his Brawn wins to step into a better team but comparing Hamilton and Button at McLaren - Hamilton shows what it is to have natural talent versus just having a good car.

Beyond that, I agree with you that it's silly for Red Bull to be incapable of sealing the WDC at this stage of the game. Some of it comes down to Vettel's lack of maturity in driving and Webber not being naturally as fast as Vettel - either way, my guess is Alonso picks up a third WDC this weekend.