What if Button had driven the Red Bull in 2011?

The 2011 RB7 is one of the most dominant cars in history. Would Button have won his second title?

🇬🇧Jenson ButtoninRed Bull Racing2011

The simulation's verdict

Neither Jenson Button nor Mark Webber would have taken the 2011 title in this car (4% and 0%).

Jenson Button

Title4%
Podium100%
Wins21%
Avg. finishP2.1
Points265

Mark Webber

Title0%
Podium88%
Wins10%
Avg. finishP3
Points230

Who finished ahead

Button
Webber
83%17%

Based on 200 simulations of the 2011 season. Numbers can vary each time you play.

Historical context

Jenson Button won the title in 2009 with the Brawn GP, the most dominant car of that season. The 2011 RB7 was even more superior: Vettel won 15 of 19 races. Had Button had that Red Bull, would he have added another championship to his record?

The real 2011 season

The 2011 Red Bull RB7, Adrian Newey's masterpiece, was one of the most dominant cars in history, with a notable aerodynamic edge thanks to the blown diffuser. Sebastian Vettel turned it into a steamroller. The German took fifteen poles and eleven wins across the nineteen races of the year, and above all a crushing consistency that let him wrap up the championship with huge margin to spare. Rarely has the title fight had so little suspense. Aged just 24, Vettel became back-to-back world champion, confirming it had been no fluke and cementing Red Bull's dominance over the first half of the decade.

Real champion: Sebastian Vettel in the Red Bull RB7. Vettel in Monza: 120 points ahead with 6 races still to go. See the full 2011 season →

The driver

Jenson Button1× world champion (2009)

Jenson Button is living proof that in Formula 1 timing is everything. He debuted in 2000 aged just twenty with obvious natural speed, yet spent almost a decade drifting through teams that never gave him a winning car, brushing against the frustration of wasted talent. Everything changed in 2009. Full profile →

How it's simulated

The engine recreates qualifying (Q1, Q2, Q3) and every Grand Prix with the ~20 real drivers of 2011, weighing each car's performance, driver skill, weather, safety cars and tyre wear. Learn how the simulator works →

Season

2011

Mode

One driver, different car

Car

Red Bull Racing

Tags

#button#red-bull#2011#vettel#mclaren

Choose driver, car and season. The engine simulates the full championship with real drivers.