• Button: ‘Hamilton would enjoy it more if Nico Rosberg was not his rival’ • Fernando Alonso: ‘He is one of the best and there is more to come’

In his wilderness years at McLaren Jenson Button helps sustain himself with the recall of imperishable memories. His world championship in 2009 tops the list, naturally, and there are those 15 victories. Some, such as the time he came from first to last to win in Montreal four years ago, with 27 on-track passes, give him particular pleasure.

So does the fact that in the three seasons he shared with Lewis Hamilton – who could win his third Formula One world championship title here on Sunday – at McLaren between 2010 and 2012 he scored more points than his more celebrated rival.

In those three years Button totted up 672 points, while Hamilton managed 657. Hamilton enthusiasts might point out that their man finished top in two of the three years, in 2010 and 2012, with the driver’s annus horribilis of 2011 in the middle.

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Hamilton also had an outstanding season in 2012, but beat Button by two points because he had the worst of McLaren’s wretched reliability problems, with five retirements against three.

So no driver is better qualified to speak about Hamilton becoming only the 10th driver to take three championships and the first from Britain to successfully defend his title. “Lewis has had an easy ride this year,” he says. “That’s definitely helped. He’s definitely learned along the way.

“His first year with Fernando Alonso [in 2007] in F1 was just the best year for him, because he had no weight on his shoulders, no pressure, nothing. He could just go out there and do his thing. And he did.”

Button feels that Hamilton could, and should have won the title that year when, astonishingly, he finished on the podium in his first nine races.

But McLaren let him stay out too long on wearing rubber in the penultimate race in China, where he needed to finish third to take the championship. His retirement allowed Kimi Raikkonen, with a remarkable piece of larceny, to outwit McLaren to take the title.

“Lewis has found himself in a good situation with Mercedes,” he says. “I don’t think he judged that. Everything fell into his lap, but it happens. With me, at Brawn, I knew the car was going to be good but I pushed for it. You find yourself in a situation with a good team and a good car and it is up to you to get the best out of it.

“It wasn’t a perfect year last year but he got over the issues and came back with the championship. I said at the end of 2014 that he would come back and annihilate the championship. He has come out and really done it. Look at qualifying. He has been on top of his game and done a great job.”

Button thinks Hamilton would have enjoyed his season even more if his main rival had not been his Mercedes team-mate, Nico Rosberg. “I am sure Lewis would like, as all of us would, another team to fight against,” he said. “It is much more fun fighting another team.”

Button also thinks that Hamilton owes a lot to his car. “Michael [Schumacher] wouldn’t have won seven championships if he hadn’t been in the best car. There are drivers as good as those who have won world championships but they never will because they haven’t had the right car. That’s why we need the sport to be more competitive. The driver can make a bigger difference rather than arriving at the first race discovering a car is so much quicker and no one can catch up.

“Mercedes are such a big team that no one can catch them. That is the biggest issue facing Formula One. Hopefully there will be more competition next season and then it will be more satisfying to win a world championship.”

Meanwhile, Hamilton’s first great rival, Fernando Alonso, paid tribute to the British driver when he said: “He is one of the best in the sport and there is more to come. He is one we all respect.

“He’s had some up and downs but the good thing about Lewis is that when he didn’t have the best car he still won some races, maybe not the championship, but winning some races and fighting for the championship. That’s something that maybe not everyone did.”

He added: “We saw Lewis winning in the first years, in the second year, and he could have retired with one title if he didn’t have Mercedes. Maybe he can win six if no one can beat Mercedes in the next years, but that’s difficult to say. Rating a driver is much more than the titles.”