Alain Prost

French · 1980–1993
VS

Jenson Button

British · 2000–2017
Championship record
4
World titles
1
4
Runner-up
1
8
Top-3 finishes
3
P1
Best championship
P1
Career totals
Alain Prost Jenson Button
Championships
4
1
Wins
51
15
Poles
33
8
Podiums
106
50
Fastest laps
0
8
Career points
798.5
1,235
Starts
202
309
Rate-adjusted · per start
Alain Prost Jenson Button
Win rate
25.2%
4.9%
Podium rate
52.5%
16.2%
Pole rate
16.3%
2.6%
Points / start
4.0
4.0
Avg grid
P4.2
P10.0
Avg finish
P7.5
P9.7
Finish rate
73.8%
79.6%
Rates reward peak form; totals reward longevity. Avg grid/finish: lower is better.
On-track overtaking
Alain Prost Jenson Button
Overtakes
0
2,746
Overtakes / race
0.0
9.2
Places lost
0
2,334
Sum of lap-by-lap positions gained on track — start lap and own pit laps excluded. Only races with lap data count, so the per-race figure is the fair comparison across eras.
Why they retired
Alain Prost Jenson Button
Mechanical retirements
34
37
Crash retirements
17
22
Classified from the finishing status. Mechanical covers car failures, crash covers accidents, collisions and damage — fewer is better on both. Retirements with an unclear cause: 2 · 4
Milestones & racecraft
1980
Debut season
2000
1981 · aged 26
First win
2006 · aged 26
1981
First pole
2004
1985 · aged 30
First title
2009 · aged 29
P1
Best finish
P1
-3.3
Avg places gained
+0.3
Season points trajectory
1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015
Alain Prost Jenson Button
Final points each season — scoring systems changed over the eras.
Track by track
Circuit Alain Prost Jenson Button
W · Pod · Best W · Pod · Best
Circuit de Monaco 4 · 6 · P1 1 · 3 · P1
Silverstone Circuit 5 · 6 · P1 0 · 0 · P4
Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps 2 · 7 · P1 1 · 3 · P1
Autodromo Nazionale di Monza 3 · 5 · P1 0 · 4 · P2
Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari 3 · 6 · P1 0 · 1 · P2
Red Bull Ring 3 · 3 · P1 0 · 0 · P4
Circuit Gilles Villeneuve 1 · 5 · P1 1 · 3 · P1
Hockenheimring 2 · 5 · P1 0 · 3 · P2
Hungaroring 0 · 2 · P2 2 · 2 · P1
Autódromo José Carlos Pace 1 · 1 · P1 1 · 3 · P1
Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya 1 · 2 · P1 1 · 2 · P1
Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez 2 · 3 · P1 0 · 0 · P12
Suzuka Circuit 0 · 2 · P2 1 · 2 · P1
Nürburgring 1 · 2 · P1 0 · 1 · P3
Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours 1 · 2 · P1 0 · 0 · P4
Team history
Alain Prost
MCL
McLaren 1980Renault 1981–1983McLaren 1984–1989Ferrari 1990–1991Williams 1993
Jenson Button
MCL
Williams 2000Benetton 2001Renault 2002BAR 2003–2005Honda 2006–2008Brawn 2009McLaren 2010–2017
19802017
Basis

Head-to-head counts races where both drivers were classified, compared by final position (post-penalty). Teammate section counts only seasons in the same car. Career totals mirror the source data. Data: Jolpica-F1 (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0).