Seven times world champion Lewis Hamilton spent three years with Jenson Button during their time in McLaren. The relationship had its ups and downs especially during their final season together.
Lewis Hamilton announced his departure from the British team in favor of joining Mercedes in the 2013 season. It was a bold move for the Briton as Mercedes was a downgrade at that time compared to McLaren.
He was with the McLaren outfit since the start of his career as Ron Dennis found him. He joined McLaren and won the world championship in his second season going with the team.
Tensions between Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button during their time in McLaren
Off the track, there were already tensions between the team and drivers. Lewis Hamilton had his own doubts regarding the equal treatment of both drivers during the season.
According to him, Jenson Button had the higher ground and he was not given the equal setup required for both of them to compete. His frustration grew over time with the peak during the 2012 Belgian Grand Prix.
The 2009 World champion qualified at the pole position in the race. Out of anger, Hamilton shared a pic of the McLaren MP4-27’s telemetry data. This data was private under the McLaren umbrella, instead, the whole world and rivals had a look at it.
Um…
Things have taken another twist, as @LewisHamilton shared his and Team Mate Jenson Button Telemetry on Instagram… 😬 pic.twitter.com/5eLi2I6x5p
— Formula One 2012 🇧🇷 (@FOne__2012) September 2, 2022
Also Read: Lewis Hamilton once got disqualified for lying to the stewards at the 2009 Australian Grand Prix
The after-reaction to the private data breach
Jenson Button eventually won the race with Hamilton retired from the race. McLaren did not penalize the Briton for this conduct. He did apologize for this.
Button was unhappy as the private data of the team was out in public. Moreover, as per him, Hamilton should have covered up the lost lap times on the corners of the Spa circuit as he had more downforce.
Eventually, Hamilton would go on to win two more races for the team and finish fourth in the world championship. Button and the new Mercedes driver were separated only by two points during their final
Also Read: Lewis Hamilton shares a heartwarming message for the Mercedes team
