“Lewis now is very different to back then”– Former teammate discusses Lewis Hamilton’s evolution

“Lewis now is very different to back then”– Former teammate Jenson Button talks about how Lewis Hamilton has changed.

Even in the late years of his career, Lewis Hamilton has been a decisive force in Formula 1, as he has won over six world titles after crossing the age of 30.

Jenson Button, who was Hamilton’s teammate at McLaren at the latter’s formative years, has talked about how his compatriot has transformed over the years.

“Lewis was straightforward, super-quick and could drive anything you put him in, really,” he told Sky F1. “They were very different from each other but I think the Lewis now is very different to back then.”

“He has the experience. Back then it was just driving every lap flat out, and now he understands what he needs to do to get the best out of the car from A to B.”

Button was also one of the victims of Hamilton’s superiority, where the 36-year-old race driver managed to surpass him with his exceptional performances at McLaren.

Fernando Alonso is a wily old fox.

When talking about Hamilton at McLaren, one can’t really skip talking about Fernando Alonso, as the two had a fierce rivalry, as both were at the top of their game when together.

“Fernando was a wily old fox. He knew exactly what he needed to do to win. He had the speed but he also understood strategy and he knew what he had to do with the engineers to get them on his side.”

After tensions flaring high in team setup due to Hamilton and Alonso rivalry, the Spaniard mutually terminated his contract with McLaren and rejoined Renault before making his big move to Ferrari.

A few years later, Alonso returned to McLaren but soon took an IndyCar endeavour before returning to F1 with Alpine this year, which is a rebranded version of Renault.

About the author

Tanish Chachra

Tanish Chachra is the Motorsport editor at The SportsRush. He saw his first race when F1 visited India in 2011, and since then, his romance with the sport has been seasonal until he took up this role in 2020. Reigniting F1's coverage on this site, Tanish has fallen in love with the sport all over again. He loves Kimi Raikkonen and sees a future world champion in Oscar Piastri. Away from us, he loves to snuggle inside his books.

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