Jenson Button is keen to see how his former McLaren team-mate Lewis Hamilton adjusts to racing for a Ferrari team where he is the priority for the title, not the driver.
Hamilton secured an early and dramatic start to F1’s last “dumb season” by announcing even before the start of the 2024 campaign that he would be a Ferrari driver from next season, triggering a buyout clause in his contract with Mercedes to make that dream a reality.
Hamilton, a seven-time world champion, will travel to Maranello to marry Charles Leclerc and chase a record eighth world championship. Button warns it will be a name search unlike any other Hamilton has experienced.
While Button believes that in any other team a driving force is seen as putting its interests first, he noted that this is not the case at Ferrari. That’s why he’s intrigued to see how Hamilton handles an environment where “it’s all about Ferrari winning the world championship. ” Championships. “
Asked on the Sky F1 podcast how he sees the work of the duo Hamilton and Leclerc, Button replied: “I think if it was Lewis seven or eight years ago, it would be a delicate relationship.
“But now he’s so comfortable with himself and no, I don’t think they’re going to have any upheavals as teammates. Neither Carlos [Sainz] nor Charles currently have any.
“Do I think they’ll work well together? I think the positive thing about Charles is that he knows the team, that he speaks Italian. If he wanted to, he could complicate things for Lewis and this team, the atmosphere.
“And you can say, ‘Well, it’s not sporty’, but that’s part of racing and Nico Rosberg will tell you that too. It’s about having the team, which gives you strength and takes away from your teammate’s strength.
“But Lewis has been around long enough to understand the situation and I’m looking forward to this fight between teammates.
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“Obviously, they work together, they’re Ferrari. That’s the only thing with Ferrari.
“On every other team, you can say, ‘yes, the driving force is the only one. ‘And the team, of course. But at Ferrari, everyone works for Ferrari. It’s all about Ferrari winning the world championships.
“It’s definitely another way to race for Lewis, who is a big star in this sport. As a result, he races for Ferrari to win the championship. “
“So I’m looking forward to seeing the momentum there and next year will be very exciting. “
But until then, Hamilton has to lead his final season with Mercedes, which has so far proved a tricky task, with a P6, his result of the year so far.
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