Lewis Hamilton vs Jenson Button

 A look at how Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button fared against each other in the 3 years they were teammates at McLaren.

2010  

Lewis Hamilton(240pts) vs Jenson Button(214pts)  

Qualifying
4.9 vs 6.9 (average qualifying position)
14 vs 5 (teammate finishing above other where both cars completed qualifying)
0.447s (average lap-time Hamilton was faster by)

Race
3.8 vs 4.5 (average finishing position)
10 vs 3 (teammate finishing above other where both cars completed race)

Hamilton Retirements - 4 (1 wheel rim failure, 1 gearbox, 2 accidents)   
Button Retirements - 2 (1 engine, 1 accident)

Hamilton - 3 Wins & 1 Pole Position      
Button     - 2 Wins & 0 Pole Positions


Notes on 2010 stats -

•   Spain, Hamilton had a wheel rim failure on the penultimate lap and didn't finish but was still officially classified 14th as he completed 90% of the race. I didn't include him as finishing a lap early skews the performance data.

2011

Lewis Hamilton(227pts) vs Jenson Button(270pts)    

Qualifying
3.3 vs 4.5 (average qualifying position)
13 vs 6 (teammate finishing above other where both cars completed qualifying)
0.946s (average lap-time Hamilton was faster by)

Race
3.8 vs 3.1 (average finishing position)
7 vs 7 (teammate finishing above other where both cars completed race)

Hamilton Retirements - 3 (1 gearbox, 2 accidents)   
Button Retirements - 2 (loose wheel nut, hydraulics)

Hamilton - 3 Wins & 1 Pole Position      
Button     - 3 Wins & 0 Pole Positions


2012

Lewis Hamilton(190pts) vs Jenson Button(188pts)    

Qualifying
3.1 vs 6.5 (average qualifying position)
17 vs 3 (teammate finishing above other where both cars completed qualifying)
0.418s (average lap-time Hamilton was faster by)

Race
4.4 vs 5.6 (average finishing position)
7 vs 3 (teammate finishing above other where both cars completed race)

Hamilton Retirements - 6 (1 puncture, 1 gearbox, 3 accidents, 1 fuel pressure)   
Button Retirements - 4 (1 exhaust/differential, 2 accidents, 1 fuel system)

Hamilton - 4 Wins & 7 Pole Positions      
Button     - 3 Wins & 1 Pole Position


 Notes on 2012 stats - 

• Spain, Hamilton pole penalty not included because the shortage of fuel would not have gave a significant gain or changed his position relative to his teammate(Button never made it to Q3).
• Bahrain, Button retires with exhaust/differential trouble with 2 laps to go and didn't finish but was still officially classified 18th as he completed 90% of the race. I didn't include him as finishing 2 laps early skews the performance data.
• Monaco, Button retires with 8 laps to go but was still officially classified 16th as he completed 90% of the race. I didn't include him as finishing 8 laps early skews the performance data.
• Valencia, Hamilton tangles with Pastor Maldanado with 2 laps to go and didn't finish but was still officially classified 19th as he completed 90% of the race. I didn't include him as finishing 2 laps early skews the performance data. 
• Qualifying average lap-time is best of 19 with Britain left out. Reason is Hamilton is 10 places higher in the grid than Button but 5.499 secs slower because of rain at different times.

2010-2012

Lewis Hamilton(657pts) vs Jenson Button(672pts)    

Qualifying
3.8 vs 6.0 (average qualifying position)
44 vs 14 (teammate finishing above other where both cars completed qualifying)
0.604s (average lap-time Hamilton was faster by)

Race
4.0 vs 4.4 (average finishing position)
24 vs 13 (teammate finishing above other where both cars completed race)

Hamilton Retirements - 13
Button Retirements - 8

Hamilton - 10 Wins & 9 Pole Positions     
Button     -   8 Wins & 1 Pole Positions