Lewis Hamilton & Jenson Button with 2012 McLaren Mercedes Car

Unveiled at the McLaren Technology Centre, the MP4-27 is the car that Vodafone McLaren Mercedes hope will deliver them back to the top of the rostrum in both the Driver’s and Constructor’s Championships. The two British drivers and former World Champions Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton also share their thoughts on the upcoming 2012 F1 season, what drives them and their team in their pursuit for excellence.

In addition, McLaren MD Jonathan Neale also gives a unique insight into the development of the MP4-27 and how it differs from last season’s car.

Despite rumours, both British drivers have opted to stay with the McLaren Team and race together in the forthcoming 2012 F1 season.

Both have proved their class by winninng the Formula One Drivers Championship in recent years, but it was 2009 title winner Jenson Button who finished with more points, behind eventual champion Sebastian Vettel.

But Lewis Hamilton told the Daily Telegraph he is confident and looking forward to the 2012 F1 seaon as he has addressed personal problems.

“Considering last year, from my own personal feeling, that I wasn’t performing at my best and I was still … when you look at the qualifying positions – what was it, 13-6? – my performances were pretty good,”.

The Formula One 2012 season starts on on 18th March with the Australian Grand Prix.

Vettel got off to a flying start and took the lead on the first lap and went on to win his 10th race this season.

With both the Driver’s and the Constructor’s Championship already won this season Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull still have one record still in their sights.  Vettel has already been likened to fellow countryman Michael Schumacher and if he can win the remaining three races in India, Abu Dhabi and Brazil he will equal Schumacher’s record 13 wins in a single season.

Over the past few seasons the FIA have attempted to address criticism aimed at F1 being dull and races becoming predictable with less overtaking and thrills.  But next season it will be up to the likes of Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso and McLaren and Ferrari to catch the 24 year old Sebastian Vettel and the Red Bull team.

With four races still remaining Sebastian Vettel’s third place finish in the Japanese Grand Prix behind Jenson Button (McLaren) and Fernando Alonso (Ferrari), was enough to clinch his second title.

Mark Webber hasn’t had a bad season but it is his Red Bull team-mate that has a sensational season.  Vettel has won nine of the 15 F1 races so far this year, and managed to start in pole position on no less than 12 pole occasions.  That is an amazing record.

I still believe, given the same car, Lewis Hamilton would have been much closer to Vettel this season.  That said, Jenson Button’s achievements this year have been somewhat overshadowed by Hamilton courting the headlines for all the wrong reasons and Vettel’s sheer brilliance.

2011 F1 Japanese Grand Prix

1  Jenson Button (McLaren-Mercedes) 1:36.568
2   Fernando Alonso (Ferrari)  +00:01.160
3   Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull-Renault) +00:02.006
4   Mark Webber (Red Bull-Renault) +00:08.071
5   Lewis Hamilton (McLaren-Mercedes) +00:24.268
6   Michael Schumacher (Mercedes GP) +00:27.120
7   Felipe Massa (Ferrari) +00:28.240
8   Sergio Perez (Sauber) +00:39.377
9   Vitaly Petrov (Renault) +00:42.607
10 Nico Rosberg (Mercedes GP) +00:44.322

F1 Drivers Championship 2011

1   Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull-Renault) 324
2   Jenson Button (McLaren-Mercedes) 210
3   Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) 202
4   Mark Webber (Red Bull-Renault) 194
5   Lewis Hamilton (McLaren-Mercedes) 178
6   Felipe Massa (Ferrari) 90
7   Nico Rosberg (Mercedes GP) 63
8   Michael Schumacher (Mercedes GP) 60
9   Vitaly Petrov (Renault) 36
10 Nick Heidfeld (Renault) 34

Jenson Button came second and is the only driver who can mathematically stop Vettel retaining the 2011 Formula One Drivers’ Championship, though realistically that is not going to happen.

F1 Singapore Grand Prix
1. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1 1:59:06.757 25
2  Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 3 1:59:08.494 18
3 Mark Webber  Red Bull-Renault 2 1:59:36.036 15

Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull’s dominance of this year’s F1 season has been phenomenal.  The victory in Singapore was his ninth in 14 races this season.  He is now 124 points clear of second place Jenson Button with a maximum 125 points available with five races remaining. With his inevitable victory to come in the next few weeks, Vettel will be the youngest driver to retain the F1 Drivers’ Championship; and in doing so there is talk of Vettel dominating the sport in much the same way fellow German Michael Schumacher did before him.  And though Jenson Button has had a great season, both Button and Lewis Hamilton are not able to compete on a level playing field all the time the Red Bull cars are out performing their McLaren’s.

FIA Formula 1 2011 Drivers’ World Championship

1   Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull-Renault) 309
2   Jenson Button (McLaren-Mercedes) 185
3   Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) 184
4   Mark Webber (Red Bull-Renault) 182
5   Lewis Hamilton (McLaren-Mercedes) 168
6   Felipe Massa (Ferrari) 84
7   Nico Rosberg (Mercedes GP) 62
8   Michael Schumacher (Mercedes GP) 52
9   Vitaly Petrov (Renault) 34
10 Nick Heidfeld (Renault) 34

The next race is the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka on 9th October.

Lewis Hamilton started in second place on the grid but made a great start and immediately passed Mark Webber. The race was an exciting one as Hamilton lost and regained the lead twice before winning his 16th F1 Grand Prix.

German Grand Prix
1. Lewis Hamilton (GB) McLaren-Mercedes 1:37:30.334 25
2. Fernando Alonso (Spain) Ferrari  1:37:34.314 18
3. Mark Webber (Australia) Red Bull-Renault  1:37:40.122 15

It was Lewis Hamilton’s first victory since the Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai and was made all the sweeter as Sebastian Vettel failed to collect any points.  But with nine races to go in the F1 2011 season, even with the McLarens and Ferraris driving faster than the Red Bulls, it is difficult to see how anyone but Sebastian Vettel is going to be crowned champion come November.

FIA Formula 1 drivers’ world championship
1   Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull-Renault) 216
2   Mark Webber (Red Bull-Renault) 139
3   Lewis Hamilton (McLaren-Mercedes) 134
4   Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) 130
5   Jenson Button (McLaren-Mercedes) 109
6   Felipe Massa (Ferrari) 62
7   Nico Rosberg (Mercedes GP) 46
8   Nick Heidfeld (Renault) 34
9   Vitaly Petrov (Renault) 32
10 Michael Schumacher (Mercedes GP) 32

There’s an interesting article on the BBC website where Mark Hughes suggests McLaren’s return to winning ways is not just down to the individual brilliance of Lewis Hamilton but also has to do with the teams’ choice of tyres.

The drivers reflect on their previous performances at Silverstone and what it means to them to perform at their own track and the obvious importance of doing particularly well in front of the British fans.

Lewis Hamilton & Jenson Button @ Vodafone VIP Fashion Shoot

Vodafone VIP has set Vodafone McLaren Mercedes F1™ drivers Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button their toughest challenge to date. The teammates were tasked with styling, directing and photographing an eccentric high-end British Summer fashion shoot under the watchful eye of renowned stylist Valentine Fillol-Cordier.

Plunged head first into the world of fashion, the film follows Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button on set as, assisted by Valentine Fillol-Cordier, they style models Charlotte W and Eve Delf in iconic British-inspired outfits. Having put their styling prowess to the test, the drivers select props for the shoot with Lewis then taking the role of photographer and Jenson as photographer’s assistant.

Jenson was quick to get to grips with the outfit selection, as well as the intricacies of lighting, composition and camera setups, while Lewis also tackled his role confidently. “I’ve done several photo shoots”, Lewis commented, “so I kind of see how photographers behave and act. And obviously I’ve seen Austin Powers so that’s where I really took my inspiration from!” Both models seemed to have just as much fun as the drivers, with Charlotte W describing the day as “hilarious” and “completely different to any shoot I’ve ever been on”.

Previous Vodafone VIP online films have seen the drivers assemble their own F1™ car, and nab the best spots at their favourite festival by turning up in the depths of winter.

The film is just one element of Vodafone VIP, which gives customers access to the best of British festival, fashion and Formula 1™ events. Whether it’s the 2011 Formula One Satander British Grand Prix, music festivals or exclusive front row seats at London Fashion Week shows, Vodafone will be supplying customers with the hottest tickets and money can’t buy experiences. All Vodafone customers can register for Vodafone VIP by going online.

The film launches on the 27 June, ahead of the 2011 F1 Satander British Grand Prix on the 8th – 10th July.

For more information visit www.youtube.com/vodafoneuk.

There was no repeat of the Canadian Grand Prix where a lapse of concentration allowed Jenson Button to overtake Vettel on the last lap.  Yesterday the 23 year-old defending champion won the European Grand Prix with a fautless and somewhat effortless drive to give him his sixth victory of the 2011 season. He led from start to finish and never looked like being overtaken, even with a slight lead over Fernando Alonso and Mark Webber.

BBC1 commentator and former F1 driver, Martin Brundle remarked: “This has again been a study in dominance by Sebastian Vettel. [...] He was using his head, using his tyres better than anyone else and we haven’t seen him put a foot wrong.”

Following the race both Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso and McLaren-Mercedes‘ Lewis Hamilton admitted they believe this season’s F1 Drivers Championship is already wrapped up.  Though today, Lewis Hamilton has vowed to continue trying his best to beat the unstoppable Red Bull-Renault driver.

Sebastian Vettel’s victory yesterday extends his lead to 77 points with eight races still to go.

Lewis Hamilton finished in fourth place with Jenson Button in sixth.

F1 Drivers’ World Championship 2011
1   Sebatian Vettel (Germany) Red Bull-Renault 186 points
2    Jenson Button (Great Britain) McLaren-Mercedes 109
3    Mark Webber (Australia) Red Bull-Renault 109
4    Lewis Hamilton (Great Britain) McLaren-Mercedes 97
5    Fernado Alonso (Spain) Ferrari 87
6    Felipe Massa (Brazil) Ferrari 42
7    Nico Rosberg (Germany) Mercedes 32
8    Vitaly Petrov (Russia) Renault 31
9    Nick Heidfeld (Germany) Renault 30
10 Michael Schumacher (Germany) Mercedes 26

The two British drivers and former World Champions give their thoughts on the Montreal circuit – the venue of Lewis Hamilton’s first ever win in Formula 1, and where the two achieved a perfect one-two finish last year.

Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso was second with McLaren’s Jenson Button finished third. Alonso & Button had closed in on Vettel’s lead with less than one second between the three of them, but with seven laps remaining Renault’s Vitaly Petrov got caught in a pile-up and crashed into the barriers.

The race was then held up by the safety car for 20 minutes.  When the race reconvened and all three had changed their tyres, it was Sebastian Vettel who finished the fastest and with it extended his lead in the 2011 F1 championship.

F1 2011 Monaco Grand Prix Result

1.  Sebastian Vettel 2:09:38.373

2.  Fernando Alonso     +1.1 secs

3.  Jenson Button +2.3 secs

4.  Mark Webber +23.1 secs

5.  Kamui Kobayashi +26.9 secs

6.  Lewis Hamilton +47.2 secs

7.  Adrian Sutil +1 Lap

8.  Nick Heidfeld +1 Lap

9.  Rubens Barrichello +1 Lap

10.Sebastien Buemi +1 Lap

Once again Lewis Hamilton has found himself in trouble after being controverisal.  After being penalised in the Monaco Grand Prix Hamilton made a comment on his Twitter account which was allegedly a joke suggesting “Maybe it’s because I’m black. That’s what Ali G says.” Lewis Hamilton later apologised for the outburst.

F1 2011 Drivers Championship

1.   S Vettel 143 points

2.   L Hamilton 85

3.   M Webber 79

4.   J Button 76

5.   F Alonso 69

6.   N Heidfeld 29

7.   N Rosberg 26

8.   F Massa 24

9.   V Petrov 21

10. K Kobayashi 19

The next F1 Race is the Canada Grand Prix on 12th June 2011.