Jenson Button claims Lewis Hamilton ‘thinks his career is over’ amid Mercedes struggles

‘When you’ve had a few bad races, it hurts mentally’: Jenson Button questions Lewis Hamilton’s race-winning mindset and claims the seven-time world champion ‘thinks his career is over’ amid Mercedes struggles

  • Jenson Button feels Lewis Hamilton’s future in F1 will depend on his mentality
  • He believes the seven-time world champion may ‘think his career is over’
  • Hamilton is sixth in the drivers championship 75 points behind Max Verstappen
  • His team-mate George Russell has performed better in the Mercedes so far
  • Button hopes Hamilton can rediscover his ruthless mindset and win more races
  • The former driver says that Hamilton can ‘be competitive again if he wants to be’ 

Jenson Button has doubted Lewis Hamilton’s mentality after his limp start to the season, questioning whether the seven-time world champion ‘thinks his career is over’.

Hamilton saw the drivers championship slip through his fingers in Abu Dhabi last December but has been well off the pace this year, as Mercedes continue to get to grips with their new car.

The Englishman sits sixth in the table behind team-mate George Russell in fourth and an overwhelming 75 points off Red Bull’s reigning champion Max Verstappen.

Lewis Hamilton is sixth in the drivers championship on 50 points, 34 behind George Russell

Jenson Button is concerned that the seven-time champion might think 'his career is over'

Jenson Button is concerned that the seven-time champion might think ‘his career is over’ 

Button claims that the drop-off in speed in the Mercedes has messed with Hamilton’s confidence and he must rediscover his ruthless mindset on the grid.

The former world champion fears that the 37-year-old has been crippled by his below-par start to the season and is considering calling it time on his career as a result.

‘I think the big shift for Lewis is he’s driving a car that isn’t competitive in his world,’ he said on Virgin Radio’s The Chris Evans Show.

‘He’s been fighting for the world championship since 2014 and his teammate has come, young upstart George Russell, and he’s been competitive. 

‘Because George is driving a car that’s actually better than he was used to, it’s given him confidence and he can push a bit harder, whereas Lewis has probably not got so much confidence in the car to be able to extract the maximum out of it. 

World champion Max Verstappen boasts 75 more points than Hamilton after seven races

World champion Max Verstappen boasts 75 more points than Hamilton after seven races

His team-mate Russell is the only driver to finish in the top five in every single race this season

His team-mate Russell is the only driver to finish in the top five in every single race this season

‘When you’ve had a few bad races, it hurts mentally. This is a mental sport, it’s not just physical.

‘Lewis, as we all know, is one of the best in the world, if not the best in the world at driving a Formula 1 car. 

‘He will be competitive again if he wants to be. That’s the thing: maybe he thinks his career is over and he wants to go and do something else. Who knows? 

‘But Lewis, if he has a car that’s good enough to win, he will win races.’