Jenson Button reveals mouth-watering pick to replace Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes
Lewis Hamilton raises his fists in celebration after setting pole position for the 2023 Hungarian Grand Prix.
Jenson Button has identified Fernando Alonso as the man to replace Ferrari-bound Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes in F1 2025.
Hamilton announced on Thursday that he will leave Mercedes at the end of the 2024 season, having first joined the team from McLaren in 2013.
The British driver won six of his seven World Championships in Mercedes colours, becoming the first man in history to surpass 100 grand prix victories and pole positions in 2021.
Jenson Button tips Fernando Alonso to replace Lewis Hamilton
Hamilton’s exit is likely to result in a stampede for the second Mercedes seat alongside George Russell with the likes of Alonso and Carlos Sainz, the driver Hamilton will replace at Ferrari, likely to be in the frame.
Button, the 2009 World Champion who outscored Hamilton over three seasons as McLaren team-mates between 2010 and 2012, believes Aston Martin star Alonso, 42, would be the perfect fit at Mercedes alongside Russell.
Asked to name a potential Hamilton replacement, he told Sky F1: “I would love to see Fernando Alonso.
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“He is 42 now, but the hunger is there. And if the hunger is there, the fitness is there. He drives every day in a go-kart or some sort of race car.
“If he’s there, I think it’d be a cool partnership. I think they’d learn from each other pretty well and work well together.”
Button also mentioned Williams driver Alex Albon, who is known to have a healthy relationship with Russell, as a potential successor to Hamilton.
And despite Mercedes boss Toto Wolff telling media including PlanetF1.com’s Thomas Maher that both drivers will be treated equally in 2024, Button claimed the team could hold back crucial information from Hamilton as he prepares to leave.
He said: “It’s not easy. What do they hold back from Lewis?
“He knows the ins and outs of this team very well anyway, but when they get down to the nitty-gritty, are there going to be certain things they hold back from Lewis? Possibly.
“And, for George, he’s got to start thinking about a new team-mate again. Is it going to be one of his karting rivals – Alex Albon? – or is it going to be Fernando Alonso, the guy that just doesn’t go away?
“He’s always there fighting for the top spots in the top teams, so who knows?
“This definitely makes it an interesting year for us looking forward to 2025. We still have another year of Formula 1 to look forward to, but this is proper, exciting.
“For Lewis, this is a brave move and a lot of respect to him, because he’s not just going to another team.
“He’s going to Ferrari. He’s going to a team where they speak Italian – a language he doesn’t know, a language Charles [Leclerc] does know very well.”
Read next: Revealed: The remarkable 36-hour timeline behind Lewis Hamilton’s shock Ferrari move
