Ranked: Lewis Hamilton's teammates from worst to best

Lewis Hamilton steps into a new era, as he teams up with Charles Leclerc at Ferrari. The driver has been on the F1 grid since 2007 and has been teamed up with some of the best talents.

In a career that's getting closer to two decades, Hamilton has had six teammates, and only three of them have not been world champions. More often than not, the Brit has had a stellar record against his teammates, but how would we rate all 6 of them? Let's take a look.

Ranking Lewis Hamilton's teammates

#6. Heikki Kovalainen

At the bottom, we have Heikki Kovalainen. The Finn was Hamilton's teammate from 2008 to 2009. During this time, Lewis won the title in 2008 with Heikki as his teammate. The Finn was a decent driver who would get decent results, but when you're teamed up with Lewis Hamilton at McLaren, you're expected to do more. When Kovalainen couldn't, he was replaced in 2010 by Jenson Button.

#5. Valtteri Bottas

After Heikki Kovalainen, next up we have Valtteri Bottas. Just like Heikki, Valtteri had his moments where he could do a strong job, but more often than not, he was the second driver at Mercedes and just not someone who could take the fight to Lewis Hamilton on a consistent basis.

Compared to his fellow Finn, however, there were moments when Bottas showed he could be an elite contender, something that wasn't the case with Heikki.

#4. Fernando Alonso

We have Fernando Alonso at 4th, and one of the reasons has to be the fact that the Spaniard only spent a season alongside Lewis Hamilton. The 2007 F1 season was a shock to many and apparently for Alonso as well. He was caught on the wrong foot when his rookie teammate started beating him consistently.

The two drivers were more or less on a level pegging throughout the season and ended the year tied on points. It would have been interesting to see how an Alonso-Hamilton partnership would have fared beyond 2007.

#3. Nico Rosberg

At P3, we have Nico Rosberg. The young German wasn't someone many expected to take the fight to Hamilton. But that is exactly what he did. Rosberg spent four years alongside the Brit, and it was much closer than many would have initially anticipated.

Things did go off the rails during the title battles from 2014 to 2016, but the fact that Rosberg could come back from the drubbing in 2015 and beat his teammate to win the title in 2016 is just what propels him to P3 in these rankings.

#2. Jenson Button

At P2, we have Jenson Button. When he joined McLaren in 2010 as the reigning world champion, many termed this move 'going into the lion's den.' Hamilton was considered one of the best drivers on the grid, and while Button had won the title with Brawn, he wasn't considered in the same league.

The three-year partnership between Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button did a lot to change that perception, as by the time the relationship came to an end, the two drivers were evenly matched. Hamilton would outscore Button in two out of the three years, but if we look at the overall points scored, he lost out to his teammate.

The way the partnership panned out was a far cry from what many expected would have happened, as it was never a one-way street between the two drivers. There were days when Button showed that he was just unstoppable, and then there were others where Hamilton had his way in arguably one of the best driver lineups of that era.

#1. George Russell

We have George Russell at the top, and one of the reasons is that the driver might have handed Lewis Hamilton the most comprehensive beating from any teammate in his career. He joined Mercedes in 2022 and was initially expected to be an understudy of the F1 legend.

The team producing a rather less-than-driver-friendly car meant that Russell adapted quicker and would hold the edge over Hamilton in 2022. Lewis bounced back in 2023, where he once again held a decent edge over his teammate.

Going into 2024, George Russell landed the most definitive blow to Lewis Hamilton. This was Hamilton's last season with Mercedes, so one could argue that maybe there was a drop in motivation. At the same time, this was also the younger driver finally ironing out the wrinkles in his game.

It was one-sided in the third season between the two drivers, and Russell took over as the lead driver at Mercedes.