Jenson Button recalls how he left Lewis Hamilton ‘surprised’ when they were McLaren teammates

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McLaren looked to have one of the best driver pairings on the grid in 2010 when they signed Jenson Button to partner with Lewis Hamilton.

Button had just won the 2009 title with Brawn GP, displaying dominance in the first half of the season with six wins out of the first seven races. He managed to hold onto his lead in the standings after rivals Red Bull, McLaren and Ferrari caught up.

It was the reason why the Brit decided to leave Brawn, who became Mercedes in 2010, for McLaren. Pairing up with Hamilton, the team looked to have all they needed to mount a title challenge.

But McLaren would end up missing out on the championship, in what was the closest title fight in recent history. Button fell out of contention before the season finale in Abu Dhabi, while Hamilton had a four-way battle for the crown, but ended up finishing P4.

Jenson Button ‘surprised’ Lewis Hamilton with how he built a team around him at McLaren

Button finished 26 points behind Hamilton in 2010, with two wins to his three and seven podiums to his nine. Not many would have expected him to beat his fellow compatriot in his first season at McLaren, but he did surprise him behind the scenes.

Speaking on The F1 Show, Button recalled how he built a team around him by spending more time with his mechanics and engineers. Hamilton was taken aback by this, as the team were supporting the pair on equal terms.

“Coming from Brawn, I didn’t feel that 2010 would be a year that they’d be competitive and McLaren was always the team that was pretty much always there, winning races,” he said.

“So that was really exciting to go and race alongside Lewis. And for me, yes, it blew my mind in terms of how we could just turn it on and get a lap out of the car.

“Even if it’d been slow through testing, qualifying came, bang, he would just get the lap done. And he used to amaze me the way that he was able to maximise the car just out of nowhere. It wasn’t like he built up to it.

“So the natural ability that he has was always amazing. The thing that probably he’s a lot stronger with now is the mental side of things, it was a lot more difficult back then.

“I think he felt like it was his team. And I came in and, didn’t make it my team, but I spent a lot more time with the mechanics, the engineers, built a team of people around me.

“And I think he was surprised by that, and that they were supporting me as much as they were him. But he quickly learned, I think he’s learned all the way through his career. And that’s the thing with Lewis, he picks up a lot from his teammates.”

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Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton had spats over team orders at McLaren

The relationship between the British drivers was not as plain sailing as McLaren may have hoped. Hamilton was ‘peeved’ by Button as he took the fight to him in ‘his’ team.

The former would get the better of his teammate in 2010 after some tense battles on the track. One particular instance was at the Turkish GP, when Hamilton accused Button of ignoring team orders after he overtook him for the lead, but it was a miscommunication from the pit wall.

They remained teammates until 2012, with Button beating Hamilton in 2011 as he finished runner-up to Sebastian Vettel. The 2009 champion would be partnered with Sergio Perez in 2013 as Hamilton moved to Mercedes.

Button criticised Hamilton’s move to Mercedes, claiming that he did not know what they would become. Of course, it would turn out to be a brilliant decision as he won six titles between 2014 and 2020.