Jenson Button revealed the way he worked at McLaren, which Lewis Hamilton “mentally hurt” at certain points in her time as a teammate.
Button joined Hamilton at McLaren in 2010, the couple being the two youngest world champions at the time, creating something of an all-British “super team”.
After experiencing life as a teammate of Hamilton, recently named Forbes’ Top 10 Highest Paid Athlete in the World, and two-time world champion Fernando Alonso, the question inevitably became how the two hold up against each other on opposite sides of the world Garage.
“Lewis was world champion when we were team-mates and we were still quite young,” Button told Sky F1.
“He was much less experienced then than Fernando Alonso.
“Fernando was a clever old fox. He knew exactly what to do to win. He had the speed, but he also understood the strategy and knew what to do with the engineers to get them on his side.
“Lewis was straightforward, super fast and could really drive anything you put him in. They were very different, but I think the Lewis is very different now than it was then. He has the experience.
“Back then he just drove every lap at full speed, and now he understands what he has to do to get the most out of the car from A to B.”
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Button was able to surpass Hamilton in the course of his three seasons together as teammates. The 2009 world champion and Nico Rosberg were the only teammates to defeat the 98-time race winner over a full year.
While Rosberg played mind games with Hamilton to win his 2016 World Cup, Button took a different approach.
“I don’t know how to play mind games with him. It was important for me to get a team behind me, ”explained Button.
“I jump in a car and if it doesn’t suit my style it just doesn’t work for me. I am not one of those drivers. I need a car that was designed around me and the team support around me to develop it in my direction.
“I did that and it worked for me. I think this hurt Lewis a little mentally at certain points in our time together, but now if Lewis is likely to have a problem or a bad weekend, he’ll walk away, think about it, and come back. It’s just his job. “
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The post How Jenson Button “mentally injured” Lewis Hamilton as a McLaren teammate first appeared on monter-une-startup.
