2009 Formula 1 World Champion Jenson Button has questioned how the atmosphere will be at Mercedes this year following Lewis Hamilton’s decision to move to Ferrari in 2025.
It was announced on Thursday that Hamilton had activated a break clause in his current Mercedes deal to secure a switch to Ferrari on a multi-year agreement from next season.
Hamilton’s entire F1 career to this point has been powered by Mercedes and he has rewritten the record books since moving to the manufacturer’s works team back in 2013.
But amid the German outfit’s struggles since F1’s regulations were overhauled in 2022, the Briton has chosen to bring an end to that partnership and embark on a new chapter in his career with F1’s most successful team.
Button, who partnered Hamilton at McLaren between 2010 and 2012, believes his former team-mate’s bombshell transfer will continue to drive up the sport’s exponential growth.
“Surprised? Yeah. This is massive for the sport,” Button told Sky F1. “If Lewis stayed at Mercedes… if they won races or didn’t win races, it would have been good, but having this shift to Ferrari is massive.
“I think it’s great for the sport, everyone is going to have their eyes on Formula 1, especially Ferrari and Lewis. But also how he does up against Charles Leclerc, who has the contract so I’m guessing he’s the one that’s going to be alongside Lewis at Ferrari.
“It’s a big deal making this change in your career when you’ve been in one team for so long, to suddenly jump into somebody else’s team; it’s tough, so fair play to Lewis.”
Hamilton’s decision arrives only less than a year after he claimed he wanted to emulate the late Stirling Moss by retaining his affiliation with Mercedes until his “last days”.
Despite the German marque’s failure to deliver him a competitive car in F1’s latest ground effect era, Hamilton penned a two-year extension with the team last August.
Button believes that Hamilton’s rationale emanates from wanting to take on a new challenge at the twilight of his career, having accomplished everything with Mercedes.
“I think obviously 12 years at Mercedes is longer than most people ever spend in Formula 1, so to spend it with one team and achieve what they have, maybe he also wanted something different, to spice it up a little bit,” Button reasoned.
“We all get to that point in our career where it’s like, ‘you know what, I’ve done what I set out to achieve’ and you choose to retire. Whereas he’s gone the other route and gone, ‘you know what, I feel like I need a change, I’m going to go to Ferrari’.
“It’s a big deal and I cannot wait to see how he goes in the Ferrari.”
However, Button believes the timing could prove to be an awkward one for both parties to deal with as Hamilton bids to end his Mercedes venture on a positive note in 2024.
“The weird thing is that it’s quite an early call to mention it this early on,” he continued. But it’s a year before he’ll be stepping into the Ferrari, so how is that atmosphere going to be at Mercedes.”
Pressed on how he and the team will deal with that transition, Button added: “It’s not easy, what do they hold back from Lewis?
“He knows the ins and outs of this team very well anyway, but when they get down to the nitty gritty are there going to be certain things they hold back from Lewis? Possibly.
“And for George [Russell], he’s got to start thinking about a new team-mate again. Is it going to be someone like his old karting rival Alex Albon or is it going to be Fernando Alonso? The guy that just doesn’t go away, he’s always there fighting for the top spots in the top teams.
“So who knows, and this definitely makes it an interesting year for us looking forward to 2025 already; we already have another year of Formula 1 to look forward to. But 2025, this is proper exciting.”
Button has also applauded the bravery of Hamilton to leave his comfort zone in favour of an Italian-centric environment which will present cultural differences that Leclerc has the advantage of being accustomed to.
“For Lewis, this is a brave move and a lot of respect to him,” he said. “He’s not just going to another team, he’s going to Ferrari.
“He’s going to a team where they speak Italian, a language he doesn’t know, a language that Charles does know very well. This is a biggie, so I’m excited for this and it’s great for F1.”
But despite having turned 39 ahead of the upcoming season, Button thinks Hamilton is operating at his peak level and is relishing the battle that he’ll have against Leclerc.
“I look forward to seeing Lewis and I think Lewis is in a place where he’s got a lot of confidence at the moment in himself,” he assessed.
“I think he’s driving at his best. And if he can carry that over to Ferrari, we’re looking forward to a great fight between him and Charles.
