Jenson Button believes Hamilton will win the F1 title in 2024

Jenson Button believes that Mercedes remains the team most likely to compete with Red Bull in the new Formula 1 season.

The 2009 world champion and commentator at Sky Sports hopes that the title contenders will pose a greater challenge to Red Bull in the 2024 season.

Interviewed by the F1 broadcaster in the UK, Jenson Button announced his favorite contender to challenge Red Bull for the title. When we look at the past ten years in the sport, it’s been Mercedes and Red Bull, so it would be Mercedes.

« I would like to say Ferrari, I would like to see them in the fight. We could say that they were the closest competitors, especially towards the end of the season, but I think Mercedes will experience a good improvement in 2024, affirms Button to Sky Sports.

The Brit believes that Lewis Hamilton, his former teammate who recently celebrated his 39th birthday, remains a formidable force ahead of his 18th season in F1, despite two winless seasons due to the dominance imposed by Red Bull and Max Verstappen in particular.

A always motivated Lewis Hamilton with the desire to win.

Before 2022, the seven-time world champion had won at least one race in every season he had participated in, and Button was impressed by the way the Mercedes driver handled the situation.

When you have won for so many years and suddenly it is taken away from you, it can work in two different ways, said Button, who participated in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2023 behind the wheel of the Garage 56 NASCAR.

(English): On one hand, you simply say to yourself, “well, it doesn’t matter anymore, I want to retire, I’ve been at the top for so long and now I haven’t won a race in two years.” But this can also make you more motivated to come back to it, and that’s the position Lewis is in right now, I think. (F), adds the former McLaren driver.

Jenson Button thinks that Lewis Hamilton is more motivated than ever to break free from this long period without the opportunity to taste victory.

« Lewis is as good as ever, I would say, in terms of pure speed, but he also appears much more comfortable and confident in himself, so he makes fewer mistakes. He is therefore even better now than he was five or six years ago, according to the British consultant.

Button feels the fear that Mercedes’ rivals and Lewis Hamilton can feel. « If he gets a competitive enough car to fight for victories, when someone is both strong and confident in themselves, it’s hard to beat, as we can see with Max Verstappen at the moment. », he concludes.

Even if Lewis Hamilton remains a potential contender for the world champion title, Max Verstappen and Red Bull seem to remain the favorites in 2024 to retain their crown. The answer will come at Bahrain on the weekend of March 2nd.