Lewis Hamilton ultimatum issued by Jenson Button before partnering Briton at McLaren
Former F1 driver Jenson Button has pinpointed a defining moment in his career after the 2009 world champion switched from Brawn GP to McLaren in 2010 to partner Lewis Hamilton, however, demanded “equal treatment” alongside his fellow Briton or claims the deal would’ve been off.
The Briton stormed to victory during Brawn GP’s only season in Formula One in 2009, topping the standings all season, with Button finishing 11 points clear of Sebastian Vettel at Red Bull.
However, Button’s next journey took him to McLaren, alongside the then one-time world champion Hamilton, with both drivers on a level playing field heading into the 2010 season.
“I remember walking into McLaren and the first thing I said before I met anyone, I spoke to Martin Whitmarsh, I spoke to Ron Dennis, and I said, ‘My first question is, is this Lewis’ team, am I going to have equal treatment here?’, because if I’m not, I don’t want to be here,” Button told The High Performance Podcast.
“And they said, ‘Yes, everything will be 100 percent equal between both of the drivers’. I said now I can start and then I walked in, met everyone, and got a pretty good rapport with the team very quickly.
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