Lewis Hamilton won’t leave Mercedes despite team struggles as he ‘has no other options’ claims ex-F1 star
LEWIS HAMILTON won’t leave Mercedes as there are no other viable options, claims Jensen Button.
The seven-time world champion is set to be out of contract with the Silver Arrows at the end of the season.
While they are reportedly working on a new deal, Hamilton has been linked with a sensational Mercedes exit – with Ferrari having been mentioned.
But Button, Hamilton’s former McLaren team-mate, doesn’t think a switch to the Scuderia, or anywhere for that matter, makes sense.
While appearing on Sky Sports over the weekend, Button said of Hamilton: “Well, he’s loyal, but I also don’t think he’s got the options that he would want.
“I don’t really think he would have the option at Red Bull – I don’t think he would be the right fit alongside Max [Verstappen].
“I don’t think he’d be at Ferrari. Aston Martin? Definitely won’t be going to Aston Martin, they’ve got two seats that are going to be filled there for a little while.”
Button, a world champion in 2009, also thinks that going through difficult times together could strengthen the bond between Mercedes and Hamilton.
The 43-year-old added: “I think his future will be at Mercedes but he is also a loyal character and it’s good to see him going through some tough times with that team.
“I think they will come out the other side together. You know, it’s a rollercoaster in Formula 1, especially when you’ve been on top for that long, there’s going to be a dip.
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“But if you can stay with that team, they will rise to the top again, and he’s not going to retire.”
Hamilton squashed retirement talk while chatting to ESPN, claiming that he is still in his prime.
But he did admit that he’d imagined himself driving for another team, albeit while calling Mercedes “home”.
He said: “I’d be lying if I said I’d never thought about ending my career anywhere else.
“I started at McLaren, I’d like to think I’ll always be a part of the McLaren family, I started there when I was 13-years-old [as a junior driver], so I thought about what it would look like if I was at McLaren one day.
“I thought about and watched the Ferrari drivers on the screens at the track and of course, you wonder what it would be like to be in red… But then I go to my team, to Mercedes, and this is my home.
“I’m happy where I am. I haven’t signed a contract yet, but we are working on one.”
Hamilton came sixth in Sunday’s Miami GP, having started 13th on the grid.
He is fourth in the driver standings, already 63 points behind Verstappen in the vastly superior Red Bull car.