Comparing Jenson Button to All of His Formula 1 Team-Mates
Fernando Alonso will become Jenson Button's 11th different team-mate when the pair line up for McLaren in 2015.
The 2009 world champion has clocked up the impressive number, the most of any driver on the current grid, over a Formula One career which is about to enter its 16th year.
His list of pre-Alonso team-mates includes two world champions, one rookie and three race winners (six, if we count their post-Button career). All of them stood on the podium before or during their time alongside the Brit, and all but one of them continued in the sport after ending a partnership with Button.
That one is of course Kevin Magnussen—should he come back, that line can be amended.
One of them was his partner for just a single race, and only three lasted more than one season alongside the 2009 world champion.
Starting with Ralf Schumacher from 2000 and ending with 2014's Magnussen, here's how Button has measured up to each of his team-mates.
Ralf Schumacher (2000)
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Jenson Button wasn't really ready for Formula One in 2000—something he later admitted, per Sky Sports. He was signed up to partner Ralf Schumacher at Williams after just two seasons in car racing.
Overhyped and inexperienced, the ridiculous pressure placed on Button's shoulders probably didn't help. Though he scored points on six occasions, he was more often than not put in the shade by Schumacher.
The German's three podiums and 24 points looked very good against Button's zero podiums and 12 points.
Williams chose to replace Button with big-name arrival Juan Pablo Montoya at the end of the season. But Sir Frank Williams, with his keen eye for talent, recognised that Button had not done that badly for a rookie, especially one of such limited experienced.
The team retained his contractual rights so they could bring him back in a few seasons if he improved. Button was loaned to another former giant, Benetton, for 2001.
Giancarlo Fisichella (2001)
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For his second season in F1, Button joined Benetton and was pitted against Giancarlo Fisichella, who had been with the team since 1998.
Benetton had been on a downward spiral since Michael Schumacher left in 1995, and the B201 of 2001 was probably the worst car they ever produced.
Fisichella scored points on three occasions, including a podium at the Belgian Grand Prix. His final points tally was eight, while Button only managed two from a single top-six finish.
In races where both drivers finished, the Italian was ahead on eight occasions. Button only beat Fisichella to the chequered flag once, but was retained for 2002 while his team-mate departed for a seat at Jordan.
Jarno Trulli (2002)
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Benetton became Renault in 2002, and Button was joined at the team by qualifying specialist Jarno Trulli.
As one might expect, the still young Button was usually put in the shade on Saturdays. However, it was a different story in the races.
While Jarno was busy creating his infamous "Trulli Trains," Button tended to move forward. He scored 14 points to Trulli's nine.
But outscoring his team-mate wasn't enough to keep him in the seat. Team boss Flavio Briatore announced midway through the year that Button would be replaced by Renault's test driver—Fernando Alonso.
Per Formula1.com, Briatore was less than impressed with the Brit's development, labelling him "just a lazy playboy."
BAR beckoned. These were, after all, the days in which a decent driver could be dropped and still find an alternative opportunity.
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Jacques Villeneuve (2003)
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The insults continued to fly as Button arrived at BAR to partner 1997 world champion Jacques Villeneuve. The Sunday Times reported Villeneuve labelled Button "Smiley" and "just like a member of a boy band" before the start of the year.
If he'd seen the picture on the previous slide, perhaps he had a point.
However, Button soon earned the Canadian's respect and established himself as the de facto number one driver in the team.
Despite a horrendous practice crash which kept him out of the Monaco Grand Prix, Button scored 17 points from seven top-eight finishes. Villeneuve scored just six, coming home in the points on two occasions.
Villeneuve was dropped before the final race of the year to make way for Button's fifth team-mate in four years.
Takuma Sato (2003-2005)
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After partnering Button for the last race of 2003, Takuma Sato lined up alongside the Brit on a full-time basis for 2004 and became the first man to last more than one season as his team-mate.
It would be fair to say Sato was chosen more for his links to engine supplier Honda than for his talent, and the battle was never especially tight. Free to be the team's primary focus, Button excelled.
2004 was unquestionably his "breakout year"—though no one was ever going to beat the two dominant Ferraris, BAR had built the second-best car. Button's ten podiums saw him take third in the championship on 85 points. Sato was eighth on 34.
The gap in 2005 was even more pronounced, though the car was not as competitive. After a nightmare start to the season which saw the team disqualified in San Marino and banned for two races, Button outscored Sato 37-1.
BAR became Honda, Sato moved on, Button was retained and a new man entered the fray.
Anthony Davidson (Malaysia 2005)
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In a quick break from the sequence, Button was partnered for a single race by Anthony Davidson when Takuma Sato was unwell.
In the 2005 Malaysian Grand Prix, Button qualified ninth with debutant Davidson in 15th. Both retired after two laps due to engine failures.
Rubens Barrichello (2006-2009)
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Rubens Barrichello left Ferrari and the shadow of Michael Schumacher to join Button at the newly renamed Honda team. He would become the Brit's longest-serving team-mate.
Button won his first race at the 2006 Hungarian Grand Prix. Throughout the season, he usually had the beating of Barrichello—he was ahead on 10 of the 11 occasions where both men made it to the chequered flag, and outscored the Brazilian 56 points to 30.
2007 was an unmitigated disaster, but again Button tended to be the leading Honda, scoring the team's only six points of the season. Barrichello reversed the trend in 2008 with 11 points to Button's three. At this stage, things looked a bit uncertain for the pair.
Honda were pulling out at the end of the year and both men's careers were under threat. Fortunately for them, team principal Ross Brawn stepped in—the team became Brawn GP, with financial support for the 2009 season provided by Honda. A Mercedes engine was shoehorned into the rear.
BBC Sport reported Button took a 50 percent pay cut to help out. It turned out to be a good decision.
The BGP001 started the season as the quickest car. Aided by the its revolutionary "double diffuser," Button won six of the first seven races. Though Barrichello fought back and scored more points in the second half of the year as other teams caught up, the gap was too great to close and Button was champion.
But the team was switching hands again and Button moved to McLaren to meet his most formidable team-mate to date.
Lewis Hamilton (2010-2012)
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Button replaced Heikki Kovalainen as Lewis Hamilton's team-mate at McLaren, and many observers were writing him off before the 2010 season had even begun.
Three-time world champion Jackie Stewart told BBC Sport he thought Button was making a mistake, and former Ferrari driver Eddie Irvine went a bit further, telling ESPN:
"Jenson has entered the lion's den—it was madness of him to move. He thinks he's going to be able to eat his steak and that's not going to be the case. I think he's going to get murdered! It's the worst decision he could have made. The only reason I can think of is that he didn't want to stay at Brawn with Rosberg, who's not as highly rated as Lewis but might be just as quick. Jenson may have thought that it's better to get beaten by Lewis than get beaten by Nico.
"
Button was certainly not "murdered" by Hamilton during their three years together, which turned out to be by far the most interesting and tight team-mate duel of his career. Hamilton "won" two seasons, Button the other.
In 2010, Button won two races to Hamilton's three, losing out in the championship by 240 points to 214. It was a fair reflection of a year in which the 2008 champion was quicker.
2011 saw their fortunes reversed, as Button drove the best season of his career. The qualifying table still showed Hamilton significantly ahead, but Jenson saved his best for when it mattered.
He scored 12 podiums including three race wins; inconsistent Hamilton also won three times, but only scored half as many podiums. Their points tallies at the end of the year were 270 for Button and 227 for Hamilton.
But in 2012, the form book was flipped again. In response to Button's magnificent 2011, Hamilton drove one of his own best seasons; the points gap at the end was just two points in Hamilton's favour, but the "real" gap was greater.
Overall, Button scored more points over the three seasons, scored more podiums and had more points finishes. Hamilton had more poles, more wins and finished ahead more often.
But many experts—including, one might think, Stewart and Irvine—will have been surprised the two were so closely matched. As Hamilton departed at the end of 2012, Button remained with McLaren for a fourth year and welcomed his ninth team-mate.
Sergio Perez (2013)
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Sergio Perez was picked to take over what everyone thought would be one of 2013's plum seats. He was a relative newcomer with just two seasons of F1 behind him. Button, by now one of the most experienced drivers on the grid, was entering his 14th.
The pair initially looked quite evenly matched and had some great battles in the early part of the year. Their tussle in Bahrain was especially good fun to watch (and listen to).
Unfortunately, they were fighting over minor places, because McLaren had built a bit of a dog. Neither managed to drag it onto the podium all year, though Button proved more adept at putting points on the board.
The season ended with Jenson's total of 73 trumping Sergio's 49, but there didn't seem to be that much in it on the track.
Nonetheless, Perez was given the boot while Button stayed on, and along came team-mate No. 10.
Kevin Magnussen (2014)
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Button was partnered in 2014 by rookie Kevin Magnussen, a product of the McLaren Young Driver Programme and the reigning Formula Renault 3.5 champion.
Both drivers started the season strongly, Magnussen ahead of Button in a McLaren two-three at the first race of the year. The pair looked evenly matched in qualifying but, as the months ticked by, Button began to assert his superiority on Sundays.
Magnussen struggled to get to grips with the unfamiliar Pirelli tyres, tending to slip back in the races. Button, now the most experienced driver on the grid, had no such issues.
The gap between the pair at the end of the season was huge—Button scored 126 points, Magnussen just 55.
But McLaren struggled to decide which driver to retain, torn between the experience of the Brit and the potential of the Dane.
In the end they settled on Button to partner their new star signing—his 11th.
Fernando Alonso (2015-?)
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Who'll come out on top when Button locks horns with Fernando Alonso?
There's only one way to find out...
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