'McLaren may experience fireworks in 2011'
Martin Brundle believes it's only a matter of time before Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton's happy relationship implodes.
Last season, their first together at McLaren, many expected a quick breakdown in the relationship between the two World Champions. But it never transpired.
Instead, the duo continued to smile and insist that they worked well together - a statement backed up by everyone at McLaren.
However, this year could prove to be a different story.
With Button more comfortable at McLaren, who he joined from Brawn GP at the start of 2010, the team faces the prospect of the duo being more evenly matched and getting embroiled in tense on-track battles.
And should that happen, Brundle says fireworks can be expected.
"I think Jenson matched Lewis better than many expected," he said during the Autosport International Show. "The two victories he had were tremendous victories, and anybody would like those on their CV.
"Lewis is possibly the faster of the two in absolute raw speed, but Jenson was the man who got 49 laps on a set of tyres in Abu Dhabi that most parked after 11-15 laps.
"He has a way of finessing the car. I love watching him drive, because he has such an economic way to drive an F1 car, which gives Jenson a problem when the car is moving around because that is not his style.
"If he sorts out his qualifying he will give Lewis even more of a hard time, but Lewis was pretty much on top by the end of the year.
"But we haven't seen them in a head to head. They are quite good mates, but there is no point being that much of a mate with your team-mate, or any other F1 driver for that matter, that you are competing against.
"So when we see them in an absolute head-to-head I think we might find a different dynamic between the two.
"If you look back to the Istanbul race and remember Lewis' face on the podium when Jenson had passed him and he wasn't expecting it, I think that is a little taster of what might happen there."
As for this year's Championship battle, the BBC commentator reckons Sebastian Vettel could became the first driver since Fernando Alonso in 2006 to retain the World title.
"Winning a World Championship in consecutive years has proven to be quite difficult in the 60-year history of F1, but (Sebastian Vettel) has got all the hallmarks - he is a good qualifier and a good racer.
"If you analyse 2010 - but for some unreliability and some impetuous driving, he could have had that sewn up by September so it is pretty obvious, I must accept that.
"But (there is) Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button, Michael Schumacherand Nico Rosberg, the list goes on. Mark Webber will come back stronger than ever, but I think Sebastian Vettel will be harder than ever to beat for Mark.
"If Adrian Newey works his magic again then Vettel could be a very, very strong contender but there are so many changes for 2011 - KERS is coming back, the adjustable rear wing and by far the biggest is Pirelli.
"It will take them a little time to get their compounds and constructions right so we could see a very variable set of results in the first few grands prix."
Credit: PlanetF1.com (www.planetf1.com)
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