Jenson Button did not conceal his true emotions about former team-mate Lewis Hamilton when making a daring prediction for the 2026 System 1 marketing campaign
Jenson Button has tipped former team-mate Lewis Hamilton for a make-or-break 2026 season (Picture: Getty) This text accommodates affiliate hyperlinks, we’ll obtain a fee on any gross sales we generate from it. Be taught extra
System 1 icon Jenson Button believes the brand new rules will show important in figuring out whether or not or not Lewis Hamilton has a lot of a future within the sport. The seven-time world champion had an agonising first yr with Ferrari, however Button hopes his early funding within the crew’s 2026 automobile will bear fruit.
Hamilton, 41, is aiming for large enhancements this season after Ferrari completed the 2025 constructors’ championship in fourth place. The previous Mercedes star completed sixth within the drivers’ standings and marked the primary yr of his profession wherein he failed to say a single grand prix podium end. Former world champion Button, who was Hamilton’s McLaren team-mate between 2010 and 2012, discovered it tough to observe his compatriot wrestle. Nonetheless, he lately predicted Hamilton will make huge strides this time period in mild of F1’s regulation modifications.
“It was powerful, I’ve to say, watching Lewis in 2025,” stated the 46-year-old as he spoke to Sky Sports activities Information forward of the brand new season. “Y’know, I used to be his team-mate for 3 years. I perceive how good he’s. So it was actually powerful to see him wrestle with the crew.
“And you could possibly see it in his face, how a lot it was hurting. You sort of neglect all the pieces else he is achieved at that second in time, since you simply see the ache. However I believe with the brand new regulation modifications, we’ll see Lewis Hamilton again to his finest, I actually do.
“As a result of he is gonna have enter in how the automobile is designed and believe in him taking it in a path that works for him. So I hope to see that. We wish to see Ferrari on the entrance, and all of us wish to see Lewis combating on the entrance once more.”
Probably the most important modifications coming in because of the brand new rules centre largely across the energy unit and newer hybrid engines. Nonetheless, there are additionally important alterations to the aerodynamics of the vehicles, with the drag discount system (DRS) being taken out completely.
Groups may even function beneath new monetary rules after the restrict for operational prices was elevated. Ferrari are hoping all this can quantity to the crew changing into a pressure within the title race as soon as extra, and Button, who solely retired from motorsport final yr, went on to say “something is feasible” as F1 enters a brand new age.
Button and Hamilton have been as soon as team-mates at McLaren for 3 years (Picture: Getty)
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“I actually do hope we see Ferrari on the entrance,” he continued. “They’re such a giant a part of System 1. It could be nice to see them combating for wins once more.”
Hamilton’s team-mate, Charles Leclerc, out-performed his new colleague final season and managed to take seven podium finishes regardless of driving the identical automobile mannequin. Nonetheless, familiarity is certain to have performed a job in that disparity, with Hamilton hoping an additional yr at Maranello will repay come 2026.
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“Leaping into one other crew towards somebody that is been there for years is all the time tough,” added Button. “However now he is had time with the crew, constructed good relationships, and is hopefully having loads of enter within the path of the automobile and the way it feels.
“It is an essential yr for him. If it would not work this yr, I do not know if it’ll work once more. That is the right alternative for him to show it round.”
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