Two world champions

If, as it is widely anticipated will be announced some time this week, Jenson Button joins Lewis Hamilton at McLaren for the 2010 season, it will be the first time in 21 years that two past world champions have driven in Formula 1 as teammates. In fact it was 23 years ago, in 1986, since two previous world champions joined one another in a single teams lineup; in 1989 Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost had been together already for one season, in which Senna won his first world title.

So, whilst it's relatively common for history and hindsight to show us examples of champion teammates - the most recent examples being Alonso and Hamilton at McLaren in 2007, Alonso and Jacques Villeneuve briefly at Renault in 2004 and Damon Hill and Villeneuve at Williams in 1996 - having two men who have already accomplished the feat joining one another is a much rarer prospect. In fact, in 60 seasons of the Formula 1 World Championship, it's so far only occurred three times. Today on +1 lap, we're going to look at those occasions and, more importantly, how they went.


1967: Graham Hill (1962) joins Jim Clark (1963, 1965) at Lotus

The story: Such significant driver moves happen maybe once in a lifetime. For the previous 5 seasons, Formula 1 had been largely the preserve of Hill and Clark. Only unreliability prevented the two men from winning all the titles on offer in that time. As it was, they had won three, Graham Hill's disciplined, self-taught determination in the BRM scoring first in 1962 and Jim Clark's fingertip natural brilliance in the Lotus bringing him success in 1963 and 1965. All things being equal, went the paradigm of the era, Jim Clark would win with Graham Hill second. So when Hill tired of his surroundings at BRM after a poor season in 1966, Lotus - Formula 1's fastest and most innovative team - were the obvious choice. However, Lotus was the home of Jim Clark, and the stage was therefore set for a monumental battle. Imagine Mika Häkkinen joining Michael Schumacher at Ferrari in 2000 and you'd have a fair idea of the situation.

The result: Lotus' 1967 season was all about the debut season for the epoch-making Ford DFV engine. Its power was far above and beyond anything ever seen before in the sport, but early teething troubles and compatability issues with the drivetrain of the car made for an unpredictable season. If the car held together, Clark or Hill would walk the event. However, the story of the year is that it never did so with enough frequency to make either man champion of the world - that title went to Denny Hulme in the slightly slower but hugely reliable Brabham-Repco car. Lotus nevertheless won 4 times in 1967, Clark enjoying the better of the mechanical luck and taking all four victories. For 1968, the team started as firm favourites. Jim Clark won the season opener in South Africa with Hill second. However, between then and the next race, he was killed in a Formula 2 race at Hockenheim. Hill carried a devastated Lotus team to the 1968 drivers and team titles, with three wins and a further three 2nd place finishes.

Head-to-Head: Jim Clark and Graham Hill spent 12 Grands Prix as teammates. Their head-to-head qualifying perfomance was 9-3 in Clark's favour. The breakdown of their results together are as follows:

JIM CLARK: 5 wins, 7 pole positions, 6 fastest laps, 50 world championship points; GRAHAM HILL: 0 wins (best result: two 2nd places), 3 pole positions, 2 fastest laps, 21 world championship points.

The verdict: It's impossible to call this for anyone other than Jim Clark. Certainly, Graham Hill suffered more than his teammate with Lotus' and Ford's mechanical failures... he and Clark agreed to share wins in the final two races, with Hill (literally) winning the toss at Watkins Glen, only to have his engine run out of oil with 4 laps left. But there's no denying the brilliance of Clark, perhaps the greatest and best Grand Prix driver of them all, making Hill's relative failure no cause for shame. The simple fact is, though, that when both men finished, Clark was always the car ahead.


1974: Emerson Fittipaldi (1972) joins Denny Hulme (1967) at McLaren

The story: Fittipaldi was very much the hotshoe of the time. In 1972 he had become the youngest ever man to win the World Championship, and much of the previous 3 years had been taken up with his thrilling battle for superiority in the Lotus against Jackie Stewart's Tyrrell. Stewart's retirement at the end of 1973, though, saw a 2010-style shake-up in the driver market. Fittipaldi had enjoyed a reasonably successful year in 1973, finishing second in the championship. However, the Lotus 72 car was now four years old and approaching the end of its useful life. McLaren's new M23 - like so many of its rivals, based on the brilliant Lotus car - was showing great promise and had won three races in its debut season. Fittipaldi joined 1967 champion Denny Hulme, who had been with McLaren - established by his fellow Kiwi and rival Bruce McLaren - since his title defence year of 1968. He had won five races in that time, but 1974 was to be his final season in Formula 1.

The result: It was Hulme who made his mark first, winning the season-opening Argentinian Grand Prix. However, this was to be the last of his eight career wins. From then on it was a Fittipaldi benefit. Aside from a second place in Austria, Hulme could do not better than five 6th places in 1974, whilst Fittipaldi took three wins and a further four podium finishes on his way to winning the 1974 World Championship. The two had also combined to give McLaren their first ever Constructors' Cup.

Head-to-Head: Emerson Fittipaldi and Denny Hulme spent 15 Grands Prix as teammates. Their head-to-head qualifying perfomance was 14-1 in Fittipaldi's favour. The breakdown of their results together are as follows:

EMERSON FITTIPALDI: 3 wins, 2 pole positions, 55 world championship points (World Champion); DENNY HULME:1 win, 1 fastest lap, 20 world championship points.

The verdict: Perhaps predictably, Fittipaldi easily had the measure of Hulme. The New Zealander was 38-years old and in his last year of Grand Prix racing, whilst the Brazilian was 28 and in a tearing hurry. However, the blend of youth and experience paid dividends for the team in the Constructors' Championship.


1986: Keke Rosberg (1982) joins Alain Prost (1985) at McLaren

The story: Keke Rosberg was the late bloomer, who had come from relative obscurity in 1981 to win a richly-merited title in the furiously competitive 1982 season, aged 34. Now 38, in what would turn out to be his last Grand Prix season, he left Williams - his home for the past 4 seasons to join the new World Champion, Alain Prost. Prost had narrowly missed out on the world title in each of the previous 4 years and was widely regarded as the best driver in the sport. The pairing also created a real clash of styles - Rosberg was swashbuckling, thrilling to watch on his own or in traffic. Prost was calmer, his more cerebral and measured approach in stark contrast, it seemed, to the speed he achieved. Both intelligent and amiable men, the pair nevertheless made it work for the good of all involved.

The result: Struggling with the handling of his new mount (as well as the demands put on driving style by the strict fuel limits of the time), Rosberg had an adequate, but little else, season. He scored points on seven occasions, took one pole position and had one podium finish. He also notably led much of the season's finale, also his last race in Formula 1. However, Alain Prost was a class apart from the rest, regardless of team. The McLaren-TAG Porsche was technologically inferior to the Williams-Honda of Nelson Piquet and Nigel Mansell, but with huge discipline Prost stayed with them, finishing just behind when he could do no better but never letting go once a chance presented itself. Benefitting from the infighting at Williams, as well as his own skill, Prost won the World Title in the thrilling decider in Adelaide. Rosberg came away from the year telling anyone who would listen that Prost was the greatest driver he had ever seen.

Head-to-Head: Alain Prost and Keke Rosberg spent 16 Grands Prix as teammates. Their head-to-head qualifying perfomance was 12-4 in Prost's favour. The breakdown of their results together are as follows:

ALAIN PROST: 4 wins, 1 pole position, 2 fastest laps, 72 world championship points (World Champion); KEKE ROSBERG: 0 wins (best result: one 2nd place), 1 pole position, 22 world championship points.

The verdict: Like Clark and Hill, this result was never in question due to the era-defining abilities of one of the participants. Like Fittipaldi and Hulme, it was a match of youth and experience where the absolute motivation to run at the top level was starting to wane for one of the rivals. Like both of the above, however, Prost and Rosberg's relationship was notable for its good spirit and mutual respect, qualities one would always anticipate from champion drivers. It's not all about using your right foot, that game.


2010: Jenson Button (2009) to join Lewis Hamilton (2008) at McLaren?

And so we return to the present day. On paper, this is an explosive driver line-up, the two most recent World Champions. It is also a line-up I expect to work as a pair. There will, no doubt be tension, and no doubt it will be stoked up by a frenzied media interest. However, both men are intelligent enough to know that cooperation and respect will get them far further in the long run, even if deep down there is resentment. Both drivers, too, have experience of life within a team with an uncooperative teammate, and will be keen to avoid that path again.

The verdict: Lewis Hamilton is too good to be beaten over a full season by Jenson Button in identical cars. However, as Button is not yet even 30-years old and nowhere near ready to contemplate life outside Formula 1 racing, I expect this pairing of champions to be the most keenly fought battle yet.