Takuma Sato
Japanese · 2002–2008
VS

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