“The most complete driver was Fernando [Alonso]”– Jenson Button draws comparison between his two former teammates Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso

Jenson Button draws a comparison between his two former drivers– Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso, with both having highly decorated F1 careers.

Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso are undoubtedly among the all-time greats of Formula 1, and there was a time when both were teammates. However, as the saying goes, two lions can’t live in a single cage.

But it was a harsh fact for McLaren, and they had to be separated. However, Jenson Button in his F1 career has partnered with both drivers. And recently speaking on Nico Rosberg’s Youtube channel, Button made a comparison between the two drivers.

Regarding who was the faster driver over one lap, Button stated: “I think Lewis is.” Pushed on who he would rate as the more “complete” driver, he said: “I can only compare them when I had them as teammates, really.”

“I can’t compare them now. But the most complete driver was Fernando. He would find every way to be quicker than you. Lewis, for me, was a very straightforward teammate.”

“He was really quick. In testing he could be not really on the pace, three- or four-tenths off even, and I don’t think he was doing it on purpose. Then he’d get to qualifying and he’d be on it. He would always find the lap time in qualifying.”

“Fernando would play games a lot more. Which, in a way… I was at a point in my career that I was up for games. We weren’t fighting against anyone else, we [McLaren] were so slow that we were fighting against each other.”

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Jenson Button played games with the Matador

F1 pairings can often lead towards a tricky part, where drivers turn on against their teammates to safeguard their prospects. And in McLaren, there were similar things, even if the car was slow.

“We played a lot of games, some of them that I don’t really want to mention too much. Most of the time it was more just holding back things, holding back pace, holding back information about setups and what have you.”

“We understood each other and we definitely respected each other, and we knew that when we did things the other guy could take it. I respected Fernando for that.”

“There were times actually that, if he was behind me, he would say, ‘Oh, there’s a problem with the car, there’s a problem with the car!’ And he would retire from the race!” Button laughed.

“We weren’t scoring points, so to be fair, he’s kind of saving the car for the next race. He was like, ‘There’s a problem, there’s a problem!’, and they [the team] would be like, ‘No, Fernando, there’s no problem, keep driving!’

“It was a funny time. But I really enjoyed my time with Fernando. He’s an extreme talent in many ways. For him to go off and do Le Mans, to race Dakar, to do Daytona… fantastic, fair play to him. [They are] very, very different categories, and he was very strong in whatever he drove.”

Summing up, Button said: “Having both of them as teammates was very special, because you just knew that you were up against the best. And when you did beat them, it meant so much more.”

Also read: Nico Rosberg states difference between Lewis Hamilton and Michael Schumacher; citing his time with them at Mercedes