Jenson Button believes Mercedes will probably be dealing with a difficult state of affairs this season because the staff transitions in the direction of its post-Hamilton period and probably restricts its star driver’s entry to info forward of his transfer to Ferrari in 2025.
Like his Sky F1 colleagues, Button was astonished by Lewis Hamilton’s determination to go away Mercedes and fulfil his dream of racing for Ferrari.
However the 2009 F1 World Champion additionally agreed that the transfer was a large affair for System 1 itself.
“Stunned? Yeah. That is huge for the game,” Button informed Sky F1. “If Lewis stayed at Mercedes… in the event that they gained races or didn’t win races, it could have been good, however having this shift to Ferrari is very large.
“I feel it’s nice for the game, everybody goes to have their eyes on System 1, particularly Ferrari and Lewis.
“But additionally how he does up towards Charles Leclerc, who has the contract so I’m guessing he’s the one which’s going to be alongside Lewis at Ferrari.
“It’s an enormous deal making this modification in your profession if you’ve been in a single staff for thus lengthy, to immediately leap into someone else’s staff; it’s powerful, so honest play to Lewis.”
Past the belief of a childhood dream, Button reckons that his former McLaren teammate wanted a recent problem to spherical off his profession in System 1.
Ferrari, a historic rival with the best racing heritage within the sport, gives the seven-time world champion an amazing alternative to bookend his personal legacy with a unprecedented achievement.
“I feel clearly 12 years at Mercedes is longer than most individuals ever spend in System 1, so to spend it with one staff and obtain what they’ve, possibly he additionally wished one thing totally different, to spice it up a little bit bit,” Button defined.
“All of us get to that time in our profession the place it’s like, ‘you already know what, I’ve performed what I got down to obtain’ and also you select to retire. Whereas he’s gone the opposite route and gone, ‘you already know what, I really feel like I want a change, I’m going to go to Ferrari’.
“It’s an enormous deal and I can not wait to see how he goes within the Ferrari.
“For Lewis, this can be a courageous transfer and a variety of respect to him,” Button added. “He’s not simply going to a different staff, he’s going to Ferrari!
“He’s going to a staff the place they converse Italian, a language he doesn’t know, a language that Charles does know very properly. This can be a biggie, so I’m excited for this and it’s nice for F1.”
Nevertheless, Button warns that navigating the 2024 season could possibly be tough for each Hamilton and Mercedes, as staff and driver purpose to shut their chapter on a excessive.
“The bizarre factor is that it’s fairly an early name to say it this early on,” he mentioned. “However it’s a yr earlier than he’ll be moving into the Ferrari, so how is that environment going to be at Mercedes.
“It’s not straightforward, what do they maintain again from Lewis?
“He is aware of the ins and outs of this staff very properly anyway, however after they get right down to the nitty gritty are there going to make sure issues they maintain again from Lewis? Probably.
“And for George [Russell], he’s bought to start out eager about a brand new team-mate once more. Is it going to be somebody like his previous karting rival Alex Albon or is it going to be Fernando Alonso? The man that simply doesn’t go away, he’s at all times there combating for the highest spots within the high groups.
“So who is aware of, and this positively makes it an attention-grabbing yr for us trying ahead to 2025 already; we have already got one other yr of System 1 to look ahead to. However 2025, that is correct thrilling.”
Hold updated with all of the F1 information through Fb and Twitter
