Hamilton advises McLaren to keep Button for 2015

Jenson Button began his Formula 1 career in 2000 with Williams. He then moved to Benetton, Renault, BAR, Honda, Brawn GP – with whom he won a championship in 2009 – and McLaren since 2010. But even though the Briton is considered a good driver by his peers, his future in F1 is uncertain.

Indeed, Button, 34, does not yet know if he will be retained by McLaren – which will switch from Mercedes to Honda in 2015. Fernando Alonso is very likely to join the Woking team, but the identity of his teammate remains unknown, and the McLaren team might be tempted to bet on a young talent to prepare for the future, and thus prefer Magnussen or Vandoorne over Button.

However, according to Lewis Hamilton, his former team McLaren should retain Button, as the recent world champion told the English newspaper *The Guardian*: « Jenson has been in Formula 1 for so long, he has had an exceptional career, and he is still young. On Sunday, he drove incredibly to place a McLaren in 5th position, and with a good driver [Magnussen] by his side who was not able to do the same with the same car. »

« I think it shows how tight-knit the F1 circle is. There are only 18 or 20 seats. But he [Button] has repeatedly proven that he is a competitor and a valuable asset to a team, » adds the freshly crowned double world champion, thus joining Button’s recent statements about his abilities.

McLaren won’t announce its drivers for a few days, but Hamilton advises his former boss – Ron Dennis – to keep Button and thus make the best choice for his team: « I’ve known Ron [Dennis] for a very, very long time and he is passionate about motorsport. I am convinced he will make a smart decision, and for me, to build a team to become champions you need top-quality drivers. There are only a few and Jenson is one of them. »