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The McLaren teammate head to heads, probably the one most of you have been looking forward to most, definitely the one I’ve been looking forward to writing. Who has had the better season? Or been better over all three seasons as teammates? Hamilton is easily the better qualifier but what about in the races?
Jenson Button v Lewis Hamilton – McLaren
|
Champ Pos |
Best Finish |
2nd Best Finish |
Best Qual |
Worst Finish |
Worst Qual |
Retirements |
|
| BUT |
5 |
1 (x3) |
2 (x3) |
1 |
16 |
18 |
2 |
| HAM |
4 |
1 (x4) |
3 (x3) |
1 (x8) |
10 |
9 |
5 |
No surprise that Hamilton has been the better qualifier, the only driver to reach Q3 at every GP in 2012 and the man with the most pole positions (8 if you include Spain, 7 if you don’t). Slightly interesting/odd that Hamilton hasn’t actually finished 2nd at all this season though, and Button has never finished 3rd.
|
Out of Q1 |
Out of Q2 |
Into Q3 |
Average Qual |
Grid Drops |
Beaten Teammate |
|
| BUT |
1 |
4 |
15 |
6.55 |
1 |
3 |
| HAM |
0 |
0 |
20 |
3.05 |
2 |
17 |
Yeaaaahhhh, I don’t really need to type anything here, I’ll just move straight on to the race stats…
|
Beaten Teammate |
||||||||
|
Fastest Lap |
Race |
Av Finish |
Distance |
Stops |
km per Stop |
Points |
Races in Points |
|
| BUT |
9 |
4 |
6.89 |
5618.327km |
41 |
92.104km |
188 |
14 |
| HAM |
9 |
9 |
5.33 |
5260.804km |
36 |
93.943km |
190 |
14 |
This is more like it, 2 points apart, 14 races in the points each, but Hamilton has only crossed the finish line 14 times, meaning points every finish, whereas Button has crossed the line 16 times. In the fifteen races that both have finished, Hamilton has finished ahead of Button in nine of them, but their fastest race laps are split 9 each. Hamilton averaged slightly further on his tyres, but if Button had just one fewer stop they’d be pretty much even.
|
Wins |
Podiums |
Fastest Laps |
Poles |
Front Row Starts |
Laps Completed |
|
| BUT |
3 |
6 |
2 |
1 |
5 |
1105 |
| HAM |
4 |
7 |
1 |
7 |
11 |
1045 |
Close in the race, not in qualifying, I think it’s time to look back at 2011 and 2010 to see how they compare.
|
Beaten Teammate |
Average |
|||||||
|
Qualifying |
Race |
Grid Pos |
Race |
Points |
Races in Points |
Champ Pos |
Retirements |
|
| BUT |
6 |
7 |
4.47 |
3.06 |
270 |
17 |
2 |
2 |
| HAM |
13 |
7 |
3.58 |
3.75 |
227 |
16 |
5 |
3 |
Towards the end of the 2011 season Button was nearly unstoppable, unless your name is Sebastian Vettel, with 8 podiums in the last 9 races, Hamilton only managed 6 podiums all season. Qualifying however, Hamilton still wins by some way.
|
Beaten Teammate |
Average |
|||||||
|
Qualifying |
Race |
Grid Pos |
Race |
Points |
Races in Points |
Champ Pos |
Retirements |
|
| BUT |
5 |
4 |
6.84 |
4.47 |
214 |
16 |
5 |
2 |
| HAM |
14 |
10 |
5.16 |
3.75 |
240 |
15 |
4 |
3 |
This was Button’s first year at McLaren, he was some way behind Hamilton but had fewer retirements which led to more points finishes. Think now it’s time for the overall 3 year head to head comparison of the two.
|
Wins |
Podiums |
Fastest Laps |
Poles |
Front Row Starts |
Total Points |
Retirements |
|
| BUT |
8 |
25 |
6 |
1 |
9 |
672 |
6 |
| HAM |
10 |
22 |
9 |
9 |
23 |
657 |
11 |
Hamilton has had the same number of poles from 2010-12 as Button has had front row starts, Button has more podiums, but Hamilton more wins. Points is where it gets interesting, Jenson has 15 more, but Hamilton has more retirements, their average points per finish is 12.9 for Button and 14.0 for Hamilton. In 2012 Hamilton lost a good chunk of points from car failures in 2012, without which he could have challenged for the title and possibly wouldn’t have left McLaren for Mercedes.
Next up will be Ferrari, Alonso v Massa, not that there is really all that much to compare with the two.
