Button and Hamilton join McLaren’s roster of world champion driver pairings
How well will Button and Hamilton get on next year?
It’s been said the driver policy at McLaren is simple: find the two best drivers available and hire them.
Once again they have hired a pair of champion drivers, something which is not that common in F1. The surprise 2010 pairing of Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button is the latest in a series that includes the likes of Alain Prost, Niki Lauda and Ayrton Senna.
McLaren’s newest champion duo has a lot to live up to. How will they compare to the past greats of the Woking team?
Alain Prost and Niki Lauda, 1984-1985
Greatness: Ended up with seven championships between them, each winning one while team mate to the other. They benefitted from the exceptional power and flexibility of the TAG-sponsored Porsche 1.5-litre turbo engines, as well as an excellent John Barnard-designed chassis, which won 12 of the 16 rounds in 1984.
Each was a master in the art preserving a car over a race distance and working their way through the field to victory. The same season they won 12 races they had only three pole positions – and they were separated by just half a point at the end of the year.
Weakness: Their second season as team mates was a disaster for Lauda, who slumped to tenth in the championship, largely due to a string of car failures. Lauda left the team at the end of 1985 unhappy with what he perceived to be Ron Dennis giving preferential treatment to Prost.
Record: Prost won his first of two championships while Lauda’s team mate, and went on to win three more. Lauda’s 1984 title was his third and last after winning two with Ferrari in the 1970s.
Alain Prost and Keke Rosberg, 1986
Greatness: Rosberg made a one-year stop-off at McLaren while en route from Williams to retirement. Although the McLaren-TAG now lacked the outright pace of the Williams-Hondas, a dramatic twist at the final round let Prost in to claim a sensational second championship win.
Weakness: Just one podium finish for Rosberg who struggled to adapt to the MP4-2C. But the pair remained on good terms and Rosberg was happy to support Prost’s title bid in the latter stages of the season.
Record: Rosberg joined defending champion Prost for 1986 having won the 1982 championship for Williams despite taking just a single race win that year. Prost won his second world championship while the pair were team mates.
Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna, 1988-1989
Prost and Senna fought on and off the track
Greatness: Probably the greatest driver pairing of all time. Not even Michael Schumacher-era Ferrari matched the dominant form of Prost and Senna in 1988, winning all bar one of the 16 rounds and finishing one-two in half of the races. Prost’s consistency and Senna’s daunting one-lap pace made them a formidable duo the likes of which has scarcely been seen before or since.
Weakness: Certainly the most infamous driving pairing of all time. Fell out over Senna’s defensive driving at Estoril in 1988, then over a deal Prost claim Senna reneged on at Imola in 1989. Culminated in Prost swiping into Senna’s car at Suzuka in 1989, winning the title in the process. Prost had already announced he would leave the team for Ferrari, and 12 months later Senna took his revenge at the same track.
Record: Senna won his first championship with McLaren at this time and Prost claimed his third. Senna went on to win two more with McLaren while partnering Gerhard Berger, while Prost took his fourth and last at Williams with Damon Hill as his team mate.
Mika Hakkinen and Nigel Mansell, 1995
Greatness: While together, not much.
Weakness: It’s easy to overlook this pair as they were only team mates for two races in 1995. Nigel Mansell was at the end of his career but Mika Hakkinen’s was just beginning to gather momentum.
However their car, the first Mercedes-engined McLaren, was a disaster. Mansell didn’t even fit in it to begin with and Mark Blundell took his place while the cockpit was enlarged. Mansell drove it twice, registering a tenth place and a withdrawal, and then never again.
Record: Mansell won one championship with Williams in 1992 after being runner-up on three occasions. Hakkinen stuck with McLaren and was rewarded with back-to-back titles in 1998 and 1999.
Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton, 2007
Alonso and Hamilton's partnership quickly turned sour in 2007
Greatness: Either Lewis Hamilton or Fernando Alonso could have won the 2007 championship, but both fell short by a point, partly because neither emerged as the consistently better driver over the course of the year.
Weakness: The pair traded blows all year. Hamilton claimed Alonso was favoured by the team at Monte-Carlo, then refused to let his team mate by when instructed to at Hungary. That provoked a reaction from Alonso which earned the Spanish driver a penalty – and then all hell broke loose. Alonso revealed details of the McLaren’s use of confidential Ferrari information to the FIA, and the team were thrown out of the championship.
Hamilton had a comfortable lead in the championship with two races to go but lost it after a series of mistakes by team or driver including an unnecessary tactical gamble, a driving error and a car problem. Meanwhile Alonso was by now so unhappy with his treatment he demanded an independent FIA adjudicator be present in his garage to ensure fair play. Nothing was found, but he too was unable to keep Kimi Raikkonen from the crown.
Record: Alonso joined McLaren from Renault, where he had already won two championships. Hamilton bounced back in his second season to become the sport’s youngest ever world champion.
Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button, 2010
It’s likely that even if Button hadn’t signed for McLaren we’d be looking at another all-champion line-up at McLaren, as they were also courting Raikkonen.
The first impression from readers of this site is that Button has made a major gamble by joining Hamilton’s team for 2010 – 83% believe he will get beaten next year.
History tells us these world champion pairings don’t tend to last long – two years, tops. So what sort of partnership will we see this time? Will it be one-sided but amicable, like Prost and Rosberg? Or a closely-matched fight between enemies, like Prost and Senna? Share your thoughts in the comments.
Button and Hamilton at McLaren
sumedh said on 20th November 2009, 9:51
Hamilton and Button will be similar to Prost and Rosberg pairing.
Button will have to play 2nd fiddle to Hamilton towards the end of the season, as he will have more points.
The change in regulations is not as massive as last year. So expect the pecking order of drivers to be the same. Hamilton outclasses Button. Period!
Nitpicker said on 20th November 2009, 14:19
That is an odd thing to say. It often happens in the last few races when the championship contenders are whittled down. Wouldn’t Hamilton support Button at the end of the season if Button had more points?
PJA said on 20th November 2009, 9:53
While I think Hamilton will beat Button next season, as long as both can get the car set up to their own liking I don’t think Hamilton will destroy Button as a number of people have predicted.
Some seem to think that McLaren have next years Championships sewn up but lets not forget Ferrari, Red Bull and Mercedes, while it is hard to predict next seasons form now, I wouldn’t be surprised if any of those teams win either Championship, although unless Mercedes pull a surprise with their driver line-up I think they will probably have the weakest driver pairing of those teams.
David said on 20th November 2009, 10:01
I don’t agree Schumacher won only because of the team strategy.
I think he would have probably won the same. But anyway, I don’t think it is fair to impose to a man the “second driver” role since the very beginning of the championship.
I think Hamilton will be faster than Button, but I don’t feel he will completely dominate. Anyway McLaren built a great line-up.
I’m very curious to see who Mercedes is going to resign: I think they’re currently making all efforts to get Michael Schumacher, but it is unlikely they will succeed.
gazzap said on 20th November 2009, 10:05
I think Hamilton and Button do compare with Senna and Prost in the driving styles but I happen to think the english boys will get on very well with each other, so I dont see the falling out of Prost and Senna. I can see Button doing far better than most people give him credit. You dont win world championships if you cant drive. he will do better than Kovalainen anyway.
steph said on 20th November 2009, 10:13
The shame for me in all of this is Heikki and wondering where he will end up. H4e gets grief but personally I think he is very talented with potential. He impressed me when he was at Renault and there was a rare occassion where he was good in the Mclaren. But I just can’t help but feel the step up to Mclaren was just too soon for him, he was still getting to grips with f1 and to get in a seat where a double world champion had just been is a huge ask. Hamilton was always going to beat him and in the end I think that really got to him to.
I hope he gets another chance at a decent team.
GooddayBruce said on 20th November 2009, 10:15
Remember that Hamilton was not a world champion when McLaren hired him and neither was Prost or Hakkinen.
For me there is a marked difference between signing two established guys in the same team and hiring one established guy and one new guy and letting the new guy win which is what McLaren really excel at.
Also don’t forget that old McLaren, Teddy Meyer McLaren ran Denny Hulme and Emerson Fittipaldi for the 1974 season.
bcnberg said on 20th November 2009, 10:21
I think Hamilton and Button will have a “british gentlemen” relationship and fight. Nothing like Alonso-Hamilton in ’07. However, I don’t understand Buttons move even though McLaren is a legendary team. What motivates him to move to a team that’s build totally arround protegé Hamilton. In ’07 McLaren already showed us that they prefered rookie Hamilton over double world champ Alonso.
At Mercedes GP (ex Brawn) Button would undoubtly have had that first driver status that would enable him to fight for the title again next year. I think Button will have a tough year in 2010.
Nitpicker said on 20th November 2009, 14:24
Some things are more important than having No.1 status or being the preferred driver. Being in direct competition with one of the best drivers in one of the best cars is a challenge any of us would relish.
GooddayBruce said on 20th November 2009, 10:52
James Allen is suggesting that Brawn was offering an £8M contract with performance elevators bringing it up to closer to £12M but then withdrew it after Button’s visit to the McLaren factory citing breach of contract.
Thus Button probably felt that £6M from McLaren was the best deal he was likely to get, and I imagine there is a performance element in there too. There may also be the reasons of looking for the best car and I can believe him when he says he is looking for a new challenge because I don’t think he’ll be too bothered loosing to Hamilton every weekend.
Talented as Jenson is, this is a retirement fund jobby. Like Gareth Barry going to City for that big money contract.
ENKO said on 20th November 2009, 10:54
I do believe that Button will rise to the challenge against Hamilton. My hope is that the competitiveness between them sees Macca finishing 1&2 at every race. It will be interesting.
Kav said on 20th November 2009, 11:33
I think it will end up like Prost/ Rosberg, Hamilton will dominate him, although not to the extent that Prost did with Rosberg. At the end of the season, they will still be friendly but I think Button’s confidence will be shattered.
If Button somehow gets a real killer instinct then I think he can prevent that from happening, but we will see.
Scribe said on 20th November 2009, 12:36
I think a lot of people are confused about the way McLaren builds it’s cars, McLaren has always gone for the most nutural car charateristics they can manage because of the massive variety of circuits and their demands. The more nuteural a car the more extreme it can be set up in either direction, an be more adaptable over a season.
Where Jenson will be at a disadvantage is the mechanics will not have previous infomation for him at each circuit. Whereas they will for Lewis. I think Jenson could suprise us this year but I do not see him beating Lewis in the long term.
SYM said on 20th November 2009, 13:08
…for me, the question is how much underhand assistance will Button be given from those within and without Mclaren, who are out to prove a point.
He knows that, and he also knows that he won this title, through 1-initial unfair technical advantage, 2-being helped at the expense of his team mate, he wants to prove a point too..
Jenson is not just a pretty face, he’s a shrewed thinker too and realises that what he wants converges with what others in the ‘new look’ Maclaren and FIA want. Add to that, the intrinsic hostility the sport, a certain element of it anyway, has for Lewis and how much so many such ppl want to see him shown up and what you have is an opportunity waiting to be grabbed.
In my opinion, there is no question about the fact that Jenson is not in the same ‘class’ as Lewis, when it comes to racing talent. It is pure arrogance and ignorance of racing to assume otherwise.
Hence i fear that the only way Jenson will score anything against Lewis is by benig given unfair advantage and again that does not bode well for next season… for the sake of the sport i hope i’m though..
SYM said on 20th November 2009, 13:11
…wrong…
dcowlives said on 20th November 2009, 13:39
Let’s take Brazil as an example… you may say that Lewis started behind and finished in front, but let’s look at how it happened. McLaren took advantage of a safety car to dump the crap tyres and fill Lewis up. Lewis gained through strategy. Jenson had the same strategy as the majority and had to overtake on the track, over and over again, similar to Jensons other races this year. Something Vettel has yet to show us doing at all, he gained in Brazil through strategy also. Monza, Jenson ahead, Lewis behind in a superior car… Jenson cool and calm kept Lewis at bay… Lewis… oh, he crashed that’s right.
I think it’s pure arrogance and ignorance of racing to fail to see Jenson’s actual champion performances season long (bar the qualifying dip). When Jenson had to overtake he did it, when Jenson had to string qualifying laps together in the race he did it, when Jenson needed to just consolidate his position he did it… when Jenson had finally his first chance to take a Championship… HE DID IT!!
This will be written in the history books forever…
JENSON BUTTON WORLD CHAMPION 2009
Nitpicker said on 20th November 2009, 14:36
It depends what you mean by “class”. They are certainly very different drivers but it’s unfair to judge one of them as better than the other based on what careers they have each had: Hamilton has driven a race-winning car for 2.5 of his 3 seasons, whereas for Button it is more like 1.5 out of 10.
There is no doubt that Hamilton’s style is great to watch and analyse, but Button’s racing can be just as fast. Speed is the only measure of success in F1. I don’t remember Prost’s days so much, was his driving style deemed boring and slow compared to Senna’s?
mvi said on 20th November 2009, 15:07
“the intrinsic hostility the sport … has for Lewis ….”
Garbage! Look up intrinsic in the dictionary.
dcowlives said on 20th November 2009, 13:29
Keith,
Although you made reference to one of them, you did not mention the driver pairings of…
Senna & Hill Jnr
Prost & Hill Jnr
Schumacher & Piquet Snr
The fact you mentioned the totally irrelevant 2 race pairing of Mansell & Hakkinnen (who wasn’t a champion at the time) means those above deserve a story also.
Regarding how Button & Hamilton will fair… I hope we will see 1984 all over again, with Button winning by half a point, but the following year it will be not Hamilton but his pushy Dad getting upset in the pitlane… in all honesty though, I do feel Hamilton will have an edge, but not as much as people think.
Nitpicker said on 20th November 2009, 14:28
That’s because the article is titled “McLaren’s roster of world champion driver pairings”.
Adrian said on 20th November 2009, 14:34
Were any of those pairings at McLaren????
dcowlives said on 20th November 2009, 16:14
Oops… mental note… should read the title more carefully in future ;-)
Serbian Kimi said on 20th November 2009, 13:31
Great post Keith!
I think too many people underestimate Jenson Button as a driver and as a world champion!
Although I prefer drivers with more aggressive and daring driving style, I’ve never derider the likes of Prost, Lauda, and, for that matter, Button. What is more, the fact that Jenson is good over long distances and preserves the tyres well may play into his hands with new regulations…
I for one would not like to see Button trounced by Lewis because Jense has made an impression on me as a thoroughly nice bloke. And as for Nick Fry’s words accusing Button of ‘the lack of loyalty” – c’mon!!
If there’s one driver who stood by his team while they were through a rough patch, it was him. 7 years of loyalty – that’s a light year by modern F1 standards!!
The days of 10-year loalty are long gone. The last three drivers to commit to a single team for more than a decade were Coulthard, Schumacher and Hakkinen! No one can possibly argue that those three belong to the latest crop of drivers:):) Of a younger/mid-generation of drivers, Jenson is the only one who got close to the above three’s benchmark.
So much about Fry’s pointless rant….
dcowlives said on 20th November 2009, 13:43
You’ll like Jenson then :-)
Overtaking Hamilton at the end of a long straight and his opponent having KERS. Passing Kubica in Japan, all those passing moves in Brazil. Jenson has shown agression, consistency, fluidity, and consideration for the championship all year long.
PJA said on 20th November 2009, 16:53
I am a fan of Button and I don’t think he has been disloyal to Brawn, but you can’t really claim he has been loyal to his team his whole F1 career, what about the contract sagas with BAR and Williams in 2004 and 2005?
I think drivers only stay at one team for a long time if it is a top team and they are a top driver. If the driver thinks he can get a better deal elsewhere, either a better car or more money, he will leave, for example Rosberg leaving Williams at the end of this season because he wanted a race winning car. The team will only change the driver if they think there is someone better for them available, such as Williams not resigning Nakajima for next year.
With your examples of Schumacher, Hakkinen and Coulthard, there wasn’t a better team available for them to go to, so in the end they only left their teams because of retirement and because McLaren thought Montoya would be a better driver for them than Coulthard.
IDR said on 20th November 2009, 15:28
Hamilton drives the car
The car drives Button.
End of Story.
Big names there Keith, hard to believe this is a fair comparison…