Mercedes superstar Lewis Hamilton is no doubt one of the greatest F1 drivers. The seven-time world champion doesn’t only have incredible consistency, he also has a terrifying pace. This is glaringly evident not only in qualifying but also during the race.

This sets him apart from the likes of Valtteri Bottas, whose one lap pace is pretty damn good, but race pace leaves more to be desired.

However, Hamilton‘s former McLaren teammate Jenson Button claims that Lewis wasn’t always this quick, at least not during the races.

Speaking on ‘The Collecting Cars Podcast,’ Button said, “Lewis is a different Lewis to what I knew.

“Lewis, when I knew him, was lightningly quick in qualifying. But in the race… he was quick, and sometimes he could get one over on you. But a lot of the time, he’d make mistakes or he would not understand how to get from A to B as quick as possible.”

Button further elaborated on what he meant and said, “He’d try to do every lap as fast as he could. He would destroy tires, he would overuse fuel, choose the wrong strategy. But now he is a completely different Lewis.”

Jenson Button believes change in Lewis Hamilton is due to the lack of a competitive teammate

Button raced alongside Hamilton for three seasons. At the time, both of them had one world championship title under their belts. During the course of three seasons together at McLaren, they were pretty much on par, performance-wise.

Hamilton outscored Button 240 points to 214 in 2010. Then, in 2011. Button blew Hamilton out of the water, 270 points to 227. While in their final season together, Lewis had the last laugh, edging Button 190 to 188 points.

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While not taking away any credit from Hamilton’s development, Button hinted at the lack of a teammate on par, or at least close enough to Hamilton, as another reason for his domination.

“He doesn’t have a Max Verstappen pushing him, he doesn’t have a Nico Rosberg pushing him either. I’m not going to say my name in that, because that would be weird.”

Either way, the Hamilton that Button knew no longer exists. The man that does exist is almost a machine, churning out wins, breaking records, and doing everything in between as he sets his sights on a seventh world title.