"We've not spoken in years": Lewis Hamilton's former teammate talks about having him as his most famous contact

Former F1 world champion and Lewis Hamilton's ex-teammate Jenson Button revealed that he and his fellow Brit have not spoken to each other in years. The 40-year-old made his debut in the sport in 2007 with McLaren and raced for the Woking-based outfit until 2012.

In his first couple of years in the sport, Hamilton was teammates with Fernando Alonso and Heikki Kovalainen before Button joined the team in 2010. The two British drivers were teammates for three years, with the seven-time F1 world champion coming out on top twice before leaving the team at the end of the 2012 season for Mercedes.

Jenson Button retired at the end of the 2016 season and made a one-off appearance in 2017 before hanging up his gloves in F1 and venturing into punditry and other racing categories. In his interview with influencer Bella James, the 2009 world champion was asked about his most famous contact in his phone, to which he replied:

"Lewis but he's probably changed his number, we've not spoken in years."

After the Miami GP this year, Jenson Button reiterated that Lewis Hamilton was a different person from when they both were teammates for three years at McLaren and told Sky Sports:

“Lewis is a different character now than he was when we were teammates. If he was deflated, the next day he was out and on it and on super fast. Now, he’s much more of a calm personality; he’s much more of a rounded character. I think it is starting to hurt him a little bit, constantly being slower than his teammate. That’s not how Lewis Hamilton is built.”

Lewis Hamilton has struggled to match the pace of his teammate Charles Leclerc at Ferrari in the 2025 season and has been behind his Monegasque teammate in points.

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Lewis Hamilton comments on having his imprint on the 2026 car

Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton revealed that he was working hard behind the scenes on next year's car to have some of his DNA on it.

Speaking with Sky Sports in Silverstone, the seven-time F1 world champion commented on his struggles and said:

"It's still tough. It's a tough balance to drive, and it's not a comfortable one. It's not one that I want to have in the future. So I'm working with Loic (Serra) and all the guys at the factory to make sure that the next car will have some of my DNA, and hopefully we'll be able to get some of the characteristics that I'm hoping to have in it next year."

The British driver has a contract with the Italian team until the end of the 2026 season with an option to extend for a further year.

Edited by Mitali