I havent seen this mentioned anywhere on here, but its something that ive had in my mind the last 2 races and seeing as were 4 races in now, wondered if anyone else has recognised this little tidbit about 1 driver this season....
Midrace Overtakes*
R1| Bahrain = 0
R2| Australia = 0
R3| Malaysia = 1
R4| China = 1
2010 Total = 2
* Passes from Lap 2 onwards (simply because the grid start isnt quite the same thing, and i can better vouch for/verify passes after T1), excluding pit lane passes, mechanical failure, crashes, or moves which dont stick (eg throwing it down the inside and looking a tit)... basically anything i can verify on the FIA website or by memory.
Theres only 1 driver ive noticed who can claim such pathetic statistics, whilst also being able to say he's completed every single lap of every GP this season, he cant blame reliability, a lack of competitiveness of his car, a lack of experience, or anything other than modern F1 cars being hopeless for overtaking (though this hasnt stopped his teammate).
For those of you who are unaware of who im refering to, i'd like to introduce to you to.... the current drivers standings leader, the reigning WDC champion wearing the 1 on his car and 2 race wins so far, Mr Jenson Button MBE!
Crazy really, certainly wouldnt think it looking at the standings or just going off race results alone. He's been passed by Hamilton twice, both in the opening 2 laps of the race when he's started at least 3 places behind him (Lap 2 @ Melbourne 11th passing 4th, and T1 @ Sepang 20th passing 17th) and Hamilton has made around 10 successful passes this season showing the car is quite capable.
It highlights how significant some of the decisions Button has made, but also how utterly incapable he is of RACING. Last season he had combo of fastest & most reliable car of the season, and for the most part won races without much effort or need to overtake people. He might be a good driver, but he's a rubbish racer compared to many world champions of years gone by. FTR im not a Button hater, i just think he was a very lucky chap last season and who's now out of his depth when he needs to make something happen with the modern F1 car's lack of overtaking opportunities. I'd hope he'd improve, and with the updates to the car to hopefully address the aero/df issues it might give him something he's happier with and able to pass people with, afterall with the 'F-Duct' it should be easier as long as they have a car that allows them to use it for speed rather than balancing out their high DF setting to make it evenly balanced... but i dont think he has that streak in him like Alonso, Hamilton or Schumi (circa 2000).
Anyone interested in first lap stats Button is at +/-0 (0, -2, +2, 0) compared to Hamiltons +10 (-1, +4, +7, 0) in the opening lap alone, so im not removing compelling stats in his favour.