F1 2013 - Mid-Season Report

McLaren-Mercedes (57 Points)

A very difficult and disappointing season so far, with the team lying in 6th place in the constructors standings behind Force India. The car has looked terrible at times this season with both drivers noting its various issues. The Canadian and British Grand Prix€™s were weekends to forget for McLaren but some promising signs in the German and Hungarian Grand Prix show that the 2nd half of the could prove to be a good one. It can€™t get much worse.

Jenson Button €“ 8 (39 Points)

Another strong showing from Jenson despite struggles with the performance of his McLaren. An always predominant strength with Button is his consistency. He has dragged the car into the points in 7 of the 10 races so far and despite some critical comments about team mate Perez€™s overtaking at Bahrain, Button has sensibly kept his nose clean and brought the car home to the finish, something Perez really needs to learn. In qualifying Jenson has just pipped teammate Sergio Perez 6-4 and more significantly is brining in a greater amount of points for the team. Button currently sits 9th in the Driver€™s Championship with 39 points, ahead of team mate Perez by 21 points. At 33 years old, the former world champion would have been hoping for far more performance from his car, however with Button likely to finish his career at McLaren, he still has a few seasons left to have another crack at the title.

Sergio Perez - 7 (18 Points)

So far, Perez€™s debut season with McLaren has been impressive, with the Mexican regularly challenging his far more experienced team mate in both qualifying and race conditions. With the performances of the McLaren being relatively poor, it makes it difficult for drivers to look impressive. However, Perez has done this on occasion through overtaking, most notably on his team mate at Bahrain and in Monaco. His audacious overtaking manoeuvres in Monaco eventually caught up with him however as another attempt at overtaking Raikkonen led to permanent suspension damage. Exuberance of youth will be to blame and it is expected as he will learn and develop from this. He is the future of McLaren so they will give him time, his time will come.