Lewis Hamilton is the second oldest driver in Formula 1 right now. Having joined in 2007, he has been a part of the sport for 16 years and is in his 17th season in Formula 1. Over the years, he has had multiple teammates.
From Fernando Alonso to George Russell, Lewis Hamilton has had a number of teammates, some of whom have equaled or beat him in the Championship. However, none of the drivers were able to do so consistently.
Lewis Hamilton has won a total of 7 Championships and is currently hunting for his 8th. He is currently 38 years old but still believes he has the pace to win the Championship. To beat such a driver is an uphill task and to do so with equal machinery is next to impossible. However, a few drivers were able to do so over the years. Let’s take a look at all of his teammates over the years.
Lewis Hamilton in his McLaren days
When Lewis Hamilton made his way to Formula 1 with McLaren, he was teamed up with the reigning Champion, Fernando Alonso. The Spanish driver was credited with putting an end to the domination of Michael Schumacher and Ferrari.
Having pitted against Fernando Alonso in his first season, fans did not expect Lewis Hamilton to beat his teammate. However, to the fans’ surprise, the Briton more or less equaled the performance of the 2-time Champion. By the end of the season, he was equal in points with Fernando Alonso.
Alonso left McLaren the next year due to some differences with the team. In 2008, Lewis was partnered with Heikki Kovalainen. Heikki did not have the pace to keep up with Lewis Hamilton. This allowed Lewis Hamilton to win the Championship in 2008 while Heikki finished 7th in the WDC. However, he remained with the team for the 2009 season as well.
In the 2009 season, McLaren wasn’t as competitive as the last season. However, Lewis Hamilton finished 5th in the WDC while Heikki finished 12th. The young British driver easily bested Heikki Kovalainen as his teammate.
For the 2010 season, McLaren decided to let go of Heikki due to his poor performances. He was replaced by the reigning Champion, Jenson Button. In the 2010 season, Lewis Hamilton finished 4th in the WDC. He did once again finish ahead of Jenson Button, but only by one position.
The next season, Jenson Button bested Lewis Hamilton by 43 points. Hamilton finished 5th while Button finished 2nd in the WDC. However, in 2012 Hamilton was once again able to beat Button.
The Hamilton-Rosberg rivalry
After the 2012 season, Lewis Hamilton lost faith in McLaren to win another Championship. So he chose to look elsewhere for more success and joined the Mercedes F1 team to replace 7-time Champion, Michael Schumacher.
In Mercedes, he joined Nico Rosberg as his new teammate. Rosberg had been a part of the team since 2010, hence had more experience with the team than him. However, Lewis Hamilton was able to beat his teammate in his first season with the team.
The next year, Mercedes were able to provide their drivers with a Championship-winning car. After the first 2 race, it was clear that one of the Mercedes drivers were going to win the Championship. Lewis Hamilton had won 11 out of the remaining 17 races. this helped him win the Championship while Rosberg finished 2nd.
In 2015, the story was more or less the same between the teammates. Hamilton once again won the Championship with Rosberg in 2nd. The next year, Nico Rosberg was on a mission. Although the team was happy with him finishing behind Hamilton, he was not. The story of the 2016 Formula 1 season is one that will never die.
The fans had no idea what to expect in each of those races. Going to the last race of the season, Lewis Hamilton had won more races than his teammate, However, he was behind Rosberg in the WDC by 12 points. So for Lewis to win the Championship, he had to win the race with Rosberg finishing outside the podium. However, the German driver finished 2nd place and won the Championship. He retired the next year.
Glory years for Lewis Hamilton
After Rosberg retired, Mercedes signed Valtteri Bottas to drive alongside Lewis Hamilton. Bottas was never able to beat his teammate during his stint with the team. This allowed Lewis Hamilton to completely dominate the sport for the next few years. the British driver won the Championship from 2017 to 2020.
After the 2021 season, George Russell replaced Valtteri Bottas in Mercedes. From the 2022 season onwards, the Mercedes team was struggling with performance. George Russell was able to outscore Lewis Hamilton in the course of the season. This was mainly because Hamilton’s setup of the car created more bouncing as compared to Russell’s.
Who was the best driver among Lewis Hamilton’s teammates?
During the course of his career so far, he was only outscored by his teammate 3 times. Once in 2012 by Jenson Button, then by Nico Rosberg in 2016, and then in 2022 by George Russell. Fernando Alonso was able to equal him in points. However, this was during Hamilton’s rookie year while Alonso was the reigning Champion.
🗓️ #OnThisDay 9 years ago!@LewisHamilton came out on top of this epic battle against Nico Rosberg to win Bahrain’s first-ever night race 🌙⚔️#F1 pic.twitter.com/SbcOLHLucU
— Formula 1 (@F1) April 6, 2023
When the Briton’s team was given a Championship-winning car, he was pretty much unstoppable. Only one driver was able to beat him when they were given the same Championship-winning car. This was Nico Rosberg in 2016. This indicates that Rosberg was perhaps Lewis Hamilton’s best teammate. Unfortunately, we could not see if he could do it on a regular basis as he retired after winning the Championship.
No driver has been able to beat him with the same car more than once. We are yet to see if Russell can do so. However, with 12 races completed in the 2023 season, Hamilton is easily leading from his teammate.