F1: Red Bull ‘Smarter’ Than Other Teams, Button Insists 2010 Car Criticism ‘Positive’

According to Adrian Sutil, Red Bull is leading the pace with its 2010 car because the team is "smarter than everyone else".

Although driving for the rival Force India team, and not enjoying the benefits of a legally flexing front wing, the German driver is open in his admiration for the championship-leading outfit.

"You have to push the rules as far as you can," he said in an interview with Auto Motor und Sport. "And Red Bull have been smarter than everyone else.

"Somehow they manage to do everything a little better," he said.

Sutil acknowledged that while Red Bull's spending is more powerful than Force India's, the old formula of a whopping budget does not explain their success.

"I think Herr Newey has very special skills," he said.

"For me, the Red Bull is an incredible car," Sutil added while also refusing to criticise the Milton Keynes-based team for passing the flexibility tests while clearly enjoying the benefits of a flexing front wing.

"If you notice nothing in the tests, then they have done nothing wrong. That's just clever," he said.

(GMM)

Button Insists 2010 Car Criticism 'Positive'

Jenson Button insists his latest criticism of McLaren's 2010 car is "positive".

The British team's group chairman Ron Dennis publicly scolded the reigning World Champion and his teammate Lewis Hamilton recently for pointing out the weaknesses of the MP4-25.

But after qualifying two seconds off the pace in Hungary and finishing the race eighth (and with both the drivers and the team losing their championship leads), 30-year-old Button insists his current comments are just a statement of fact.

"We're not as quick as the Red Bulls at this moment in time," he said. "You can see that on the circuit. It's not a negative thing. It's a positive criticism."

Button said he is not being critical of the team, but instead is urging McLaren to work together to bring the car back onto the pace.

"The position we're in is not about pointing the finger. When I say our car isn't as quick as another car, I mean it is not as quick," he explained.

"But it's a team effort. We win together and we lose together. It's as much about me giving as much input as I can to improve the car as it is about the guys back at the factory making the car go quicker in their way.

"It's like me saying I made a mistake out on the circuit. That's my fault. So me saying the car's not quick enough -- it's not quick enough, but I'm going to try everything I can to ensure it gets quicker," he added.

He backs the Woking based outfit - the winner of 12 constructors' and 8 drivers' world championships - to improve.

"You do have peaks and troughs in formula one and when you are fighting at championship level," Button said.

"At the moment we are not in a trough, but we are not as strong as the Red Bulls.

"But I'd be surprised if this team didn't pull something out. I have every confidence they will."

(GMM)

[Photo: Malcolm Griffiths / Getty]