Jenson Button
British · 2000–2017
VS

Takuma Sato
Japanese · 2002–2008
As teammates — same car
Race finishesahead
32
3
Qualifyingahead
26
9
Jenson Button · Takuma Sato
Qualifying compares starting grid position, which covers every era — it includes any grid penalties.
Qualifying gap in the same car
−0.403s
Jenson Button faster by the median gap over 32 sessions
2003 −0.450s 1
2004 −0.245s 17
2005 −0.430s 14
last segment both reached, median gap — same constructor only
Race H2H
69 — 22
91 shared
Qualifying H2H
74 — 17
91 shared
Championship record
1
World titles
0
1
Runner-up
0
3
Top-3 finishes
0
P1
Best championship
P8
Finished ahead in the standings: 7 · 0
2002 P7 2003 P9 2004 P3 2005 P9 2006 P6 2007 P15 2008 P18
Teammate battle by season
1
0
2003
15
3
2004
16
0
2005
Career totals
Jenson Button Takuma Sato
Championships
1
0
Wins
15
0
Poles
8
0
Podiums
50
1
Fastest laps
8
0
Career points
1,235
44
Starts
309
91
Rate-adjusted · per start
Jenson Button Takuma Sato
Win rate
4.9%
0%
Podium rate
16.2%
1.1%
Pole rate
2.6%
0%
Points / start
4.0
0.5
Avg grid
P10.0
P14.5
Avg finish
P9.7
P13.5
Finish rate
79.6%
69.2%
Rates reward peak form; totals reward longevity. Avg grid/finish: lower is better.
On-track overtaking
Jenson Button Takuma Sato
Overtakes
2,746
686
Overtakes / race
9.2
7.8
Places lost
2,334
543
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 Takuma Sato
Mechanical retirements
37
16
Crash retirements
22
9
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 · 3
Milestones & racecraft
2000
Debut season
2002
2006 · aged 26
First win
—
2004
First pole
—
2009 · aged 29
First title
—
P1
Best finish
P3
+0.3
Avg places gained
+1.1
Season points trajectory
2000 2003 2006 2009 2012 2015
Jenson Button Takuma Sato
Final points each season — scoring systems changed over the eras.
Track by track
Circuit Jenson Button Takuma Sato
W · Pod · Best W · Pod · Best
Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit 3 · 4 · P1 0 · 0 · P9
Hungaroring 2 · 2 · P1 0 · 0 · P6
Sepang International Circuit 1 · 4 · P1 0 · 0 · P9
Shanghai International Circuit 1 · 4 · P1 0 · 0 · P6
Autódromo José Carlos Pace 1 · 3 · P1 0 · 0 · P6
Circuit Gilles Villeneuve 1 · 3 · P1 0 · 0 · P6
Circuit de Monaco 1 · 3 · P1 0 · 0 · P17
Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps 1 · 3 · P1 0 · 0 · P11
Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya 1 · 2 · P1 0 · 0 · P5
Suzuka Circuit 1 · 2 · P1 0 · 0 · P4
Bahrain International Circuit 1 · 2 · P1 0 · 0 · P5
Istanbul Park 1 · 2 · P1 0 · 0 · P9
Autodromo Nazionale di Monza 0 · 4 · P2 0 · 0 · P4
Hockenheimring 0 · 3 · P2 0 · 0 · P8
Nürburgring 0 · 1 · P3 0 · 0 · P12
Indianapolis Motor Speedway 0 · 0 · P8 0 · 1 · P3
Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari 0 · 1 · P2 0 · 0 · P16
Silverstone Circuit 0 · 0 · P4 0 · 0 · P11
Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours 0 · 0 · P4 0 · 0 · P11
Red Bull Ring 0 · 0 · P4 0 · 0 · —
Fuji Speedway 0 · 0 · P11 0 · 0 · P15
Team history
Jenson Button
BAR
HON
MCL
Williams 2000Benetton 2001Renault 2002BAR 2003–2005Honda 2006–2008Brawn 2009McLaren 2010–2017
Takuma Sato
BAR
SUP
Jordan 2002BAR 2003–2005Super Aguri 2006–2008
20002017
Jenson Button → Takuma Sato → Compare others
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).