Amon wrote:
theferret wrote:
I see nothing wrong in Perez's ambition. He knows he's stepping into a car capable of winning not only races, but also the championship, so why shouldn't he aim for glory? Perez should be aiming to win.
That said, considering his over-driving at the end of the season, and Button's considerable amount of experience and maturity, I doubt Perez will best him next season. And I doubt Button will win the championship either.
Even if by some circumstance, Perez brings that great early/mid-season form from 2012 over to Macca and Button either has a string of mechanical failures or goes off the boil, I can't see Perez holding up all the pressure of a championship battle right to the end of the season. Not yet. I'd love to see him prove me wrong though.
Look at Lewis fought for the WDC in his first year of F1 and got it in his second. Same can be applied to Villeneuve in the nineties. Perez will be in his third F1 season.
The problem is that both Hamilton and Villeneuve were unknown quantities in F1 machinery. They really rustled the roost, so to speak. As we've seen for several drivers, former success or failure really counts for nothing once you get to F1. Pressure and expectation is entirely different.
Perez is not an unknown. And incidents like Malaysia, Japan and Abu Dhabi make me think that from what he's shown in F1, under increased pressure of performing, he'd crack. Of course, this is no guarantee, and settling into an environment where most people don't expect him to be on a par with his vastly more experienced team-mate could work in his favour. Macca anticipate at least a win, but certainly aren't expecting a championship at the moment.
Looking back at Hamilton in particular, however, I believe that the reason he did so well in comparison to Alonso was that Nando came to McLaren not with the slightest inkling of being troubled by his rookie team-mate. And probably felt Hammy would be subservient. He had no idea what Hammy could do in F1 as Lewis had no pedigree. Hence it unsettled him, caused him to make more mistakes than I feel he would have done in a usual situation. And then he fell out with the team. If Nando came to Macca a year later, and Hamilton's 2007 performance had been replicated against either Raikkonen/Montoya at McLaren, I think Alonso would have come out on top.
Of course, Alonso was far more immature back then than Button is now, and Button is far more likely to be wary of Perez being capable of challenging him, since he's seen Perez get podiums and nearly win in a Sauber.