Jenson Button

British · 2000–2017
VS

Lewis Hamilton

British · 2007–2026
As teammates — same car
Race finishesahead
26
32
Qualifyingahead
18
40
Jenson Button · Lewis Hamilton
Qualifying compares starting grid position, which covers every era — it includes any grid penalties.
Qualifying gap in the same car
+0.253s
Lewis Hamilton faster by the median gap over 58 sessions
2010 +0.343s 19
2011 +0.052s 19
2012 +0.381s 20
last segment both reached, median gap — same constructor only
Race H2H
49 140
189 shared
Qualifying H2H
34 155
189 shared
Championship record
1
World titles
7
1
Runner-up
3
3
Top-3 finishes
12
P1
Best championship
P1
Finished ahead in the standings: 2 · 8
2007 P2 2008 P1 2009 P1 2010 P4 2011 P2 2012 P4 2013 P4 2014 P1 2015 P1 2016 P2
Teammate battle by season
7
12
2010
10
9
2011
9
11
2012
Career totals
Jenson Button Lewis Hamilton
Championships
1
7
Wins
15
106
Poles
8
104
Podiums
50
207
Fastest laps
8
69
Career points
1,235
5,096.5
Starts
309
390
Rate-adjusted · per start
Jenson Button Lewis Hamilton
Win rate
4.9%
27.2%
Podium rate
16.2%
53.1%
Pole rate
2.6%
26.7%
Points / start
4.0
13.1
Avg grid
P10.0
P4.7
Avg finish
P9.7
P5.2
Finish rate
79.6%
92.3%
Rates reward peak form; totals reward longevity. Avg grid/finish: lower is better.
On-track overtaking
Jenson Button Lewis Hamilton
Overtakes
2,746
2,424
Overtakes / race
9.2
6.3
Places lost
2,334
2,145
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
Jenson Button Lewis Hamilton
Mechanical retirements
37
10
Crash retirements
22
14
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: 4 · 6
Milestones & racecraft
2000
Debut season
2007
2006 · aged 26
First win
2007 · aged 22
2004
First pole
2007
2009 · aged 29
First title
2008 · aged 23
P1
Best finish
P1
+0.3
Avg places gained
-0.5
Season points trajectory
2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024
Jenson Button Lewis Hamilton
Final points each season — scoring systems changed over the eras.
Track by track
Circuit Jenson Button Lewis Hamilton
W · Pod · Best W · Pod · Best
Hungaroring 2 · 2 · P1 8 · 12 · P1
Silverstone Circuit 0 · 0 · P4 9 · 16 · P1
Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya 1 · 2 · P1 7 · 13 · P1
Circuit Gilles Villeneuve 1 · 3 · P1 7 · 11 · P1
Shanghai International Circuit 1 · 4 · P1 6 · 10 · P1
Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps 1 · 3 · P1 5 · 11 · P1
Bahrain International Circuit 1 · 2 · P1 5 · 11 · P1
Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit 3 · 4 · P1 2 · 10 · P1
Yas Marina Circuit 0 · 3 · P3 5 · 10 · P1
Autodromo Nazionale di Monza 0 · 4 · P2 5 · 8 · P1
Suzuka Circuit 1 · 2 · P1 4 · 7 · P1
Circuit of the Americas 0 · 0 · P5 5 · 9 · P1
Sochi Autodrom 0 · 0 · P4 5 · 7 · P1
Circuit de Monaco 1 · 3 · P1 3 · 8 · P1
Autódromo José Carlos Pace 1 · 3 · P1 3 · 7 · P1
Marina Bay Street Circuit 0 · 2 · P2 4 · 7 · P1
Hockenheimring 0 · 3 · P2 3 · 4 · P1
Istanbul Park 1 · 2 · P1 2 · 3 · P1
Sepang International Circuit 1 · 4 · P1 1 · 6 · P1
Red Bull Ring 0 · 0 · P4 2 · 6 · P1
Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez 0 · 0 · P12 2 · 6 · P1
Nürburgring 0 · 1 · P3 2 · 2 · P1
Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari 0 · 1 · P2 1 · 2 · P1
Baku City Circuit 0 · 0 · P11 1 · 2 · P1
Indianapolis Motor Speedway 0 · 0 · P8 1 · 1 · P1
Fuji Speedway 0 · 0 · P11 1 · 1 · P1
Valencia Street Circuit 0 · 1 · P3 0 · 3 · P2
Korean International Circuit 0 · 0 · P4 0 · 2 · P2
Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours 0 · 0 · P4 0 · 1 · P3
Buddh International Circuit 0 · 1 · P2 0 · 0 · P4
Team history
Jenson Button
MCL
Williams 2000Benetton 2001Renault 2002BAR 2003–2005Honda 2006–2008Brawn 2009McLaren 2010–2017
Lewis Hamilton
MCL
MER
McLaren 2007–2012Mercedes 2013–2024Ferrari 2025–2026
20002026
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).