Jenson Button believes that his former team-mate Lewis Hamilton will either return to his best or walk away from Formula One in 2026. The 2025 campaign has been the most testing of the legendary Brit’s glittering career.
Heading into the United States Grand Prix, Hamilton remains without a podium finish to his name. The Brit already collected the unwanted record of the most Ferrari starts without a top-three result, and is looking to end his drought in the final six race weekends.
“We’ve seen some brilliance through the year,” Button told Sky Sports F1 at the Singapore Grand Prix. “I take it all the way back to the Shanghai sprint, which was very impressive. It’s not consistent enough through the year for him to have that confidence in the car.
“He doesn’t have his team of people around him like he’s had for many years, racing at Mercedes as a world champion. It does take a bit of time. With the new regulation change, which is massive for next year, that’s when we’re going to see either Lewis at his best, or a Lewis that’s maybe going to walk away.”
While the results on paper tell a concerning story, Hamilton has taken a step forward since the summer break. The seven-time world champion’s pace has nearly mirrored Leclerc’s over the past handful of race weekends, and he was on course for a fifth-place finish in Singapore before a braking issue eliminated his hard work.
Posting on Instagram after the race, Hamilton was inspired. “The media headlines only tell one story: one where we don’t get things quite right, or things don’t go our way,” he wrote. “But what I have been focussed on over the past few months is the other story. The one about how this team responds when things go wrong.
“How we get back up, and we go again. Yesterday was the perfect example. We got the strategy right, but the brake issue set us back just when momentum was building. So now we get back in the factory, learn from this last race, and plan for the next one.
“I’m really proud of this team and want to help deliver the results they and the Tifosi deserve. I see the progress we are making, and the hard work that goes into every race, but this is Ferrari.
“Progress alone is not enough. To achieve greatness we need to go further, be better. There is so much we can achieve together, and if we can build on our successes, and change the things we need to, I fully believe we will get there.”
