The race yesterday showed up a couple of short term (easily resolved) situations regarding relationships with the team. McLaren wanted to keep Button out for a few more laps and he said no - the team trusted his judgement and he showed the strength of character to tell them what to do. With Hamilton, once he got stuck behind Kubica, the team brought him in for fresh tyres and he did as he was told, even though his tyres felt fine to him.
After the race the word went out that Button's tyre decision was his call but both Whitmarsh ("we give the driver the choice") and Button ("my rear inters were shot anyway so it was a no-brainer") played that down to a degree. Button's already a company man and embedded in the team.
Contrast that to Hamilton, who complained bitterly both during and after the race and again this morning, about the team letting him down. On one hand I think, good for Hamilton - it's about time he started speaking his mind instead of all the "we win together and we lose together", this or that mistake "makes me stronger" corporate speak that he's renowned for. On the other, I think that spark, that display of attitude will be filed now in the memories of individuals within the team, and perhaps there's a chink in the Hamilton/McLaren chain that needs to mended.
If you want compare it to 2007, it's difficult to tell at this stage (not to mention way too early to even acknowledge) whether Hamilton's playing the Hamilton role or the Alonso role. That depends, I suppose, on the reaction of Whitmarsh and the way he manages the situation (if one develops). Button is Whitmarsh's first signing for McLaren so he has a personal interest in Button's success, even though he has a bigger corporate interest in McLaren's success. Any similarities will be made or dismissed by the managerial differences between Whitmarsh and Ron Dennis (who did have his favourites).
If Hamilton's trying to play the Hamilton role, stamping his feet in public the way he allegedly did in private in 2007, and continues by not following the team's game plan at some point, then that will demand firm management from Whitmarsh and we'll see what kind of reaction he receives.
Hamilton hasn't done himself any favours this weekend and it'll be one he wants to forget, but if you consider that the press wanted to dig up the liegate saga with him at the start of the weekend, something he'd much rather forget and which may have led to him burning off some excess tension in his 'hooning' exercise, which led to a run-in with the police, which affected his qualifying, all of which contributed to a general sense of frustration that was exacerbated on race day, then you can well understand Hamilton's need to vent. And as I said, good on him.
There is also a much longer term battle between Button and Hamilton. Button signed for three years and I think that like most people he doesn't really believe he can win the WDC in his first year against Hamilton. He has to develop in a number of areas to challenge and beat Hamilton, and that's his stated task. Button's as quick as anyone when the conditions are right, as you say, C_a_T. He has to improve his ability to get something out of nothing. He did a lot of that in the latter half of last season, but he didn't manage two victories. There's no short term fix to this. For all his long years of experience driving crap cars, I think Hamilton's experience in McLaren (e.g. understanding how and why the team reacts when under pressure) will pay dividends towards the end of the first year. The battle between Hamilton and Button hasn't begun yet.
Anyone who calls yesterday's victory "lucky" needs to give themselves a good shake. Button capitalised on difficult circumstances and took the win by doing what Button does best. It may be the only victory he achieves this season, but its real value is not in 25 points towards the championship. It was a big step in his continued assimilation into the team and its timing was hugely important. For all that Hamilton's 2009 victories were astonishing in that car (which had improved drastically by the time he won them, although he should also have won Monaco), they were only consolation prizes for a beaten team. Button has given the team a foundation on which to build.
Finally, in the last two years Hamilton was the de facto best bet at McLaren, which left Kovalainen with the job of covering the options (a job I think he made the best of). Button's victory yesterday has demolished that perception, and there may be other races this year in which Hamilton will be expected to run the Kovalainen strategy. If that happens then he needs to accept it with grace and equanimity.