Jenson Button Reveals the “Only Way” to Beating Lewis Hamilton

It is said that when Lewis Hamilton is in his absolute zone; he stops at nothing. And the six Drivers’ Championships should probably tell the story of this very statement.

This season has been no different, with the British racer scooping multiple race victories. Sometimes by an absolute mile, and sometimes by a few seconds.

There have been various theories of how to defeat him, from better individual starts to mind games. But none have majorly worked, with rivals only capable of putting pressure on the track so far.

Lewis Hamilton can only be beaten through strategy

But former teammate at McLaren, Jenson Button, has one possible theory of how Hamilton can be bested. After all, Button raced alongside him for nearly three years at McLaren from 2010 to 2012. And in 2009, even became the World Champion with Brawn GP F1.

Speaking in an interview, Button stated, “There are certain things you should pick up as Lewis’ stable mate to get a little inside your head. But Valtteri is just a nice guy. He wants to give answers on the route.

“For me the only way to beat Hamilton was – I had to set my car up better than he did. Or I had to strategically approach a race differently. It was about details like protecting the tires and then attacking at the right time.

“I guess Lewis thought to himself a few times, ‘How could he beat me when I’m the faster man?’ But that’s the only way to do it: through working with the racing car, through strategy.” (translated from Google Translate)

Rivals need to focus on their own strengths first

Jenson Button makes a good point here. Hamilton’s teammate, Valtteri Bottas, has failed to capitalize on the world champion’s few mistakes in the past.

In addition, the mentality has somehow been to show Lewis that he is the superior driver at Mercedes. Rather than focusing on his own strategy to do better in qualifying and the main race.

There is no doubt by now that was a title race to be instigated, Bottas would be Hamilton’s nearest challenger. Though, there is an element of uncertainty of how he approaches the next few races.

The challenge only elevates to a new level when the drivers take to the Nurburgring track on October 9. Bottas has been the fastest in the last few practice sessions. But, if it means trading practice session leader for a race win, he would certainly go ahead and do it.