Button believes Hamilton’s move a bad decision

Jenson Button has explained how he believes current team-mate Lewis Hamilton’s move to Mercedes for next season is a bad decision, amid one of the most talked about driver changes in the history of the sport. With Lewis Hamilton leaving McLaren for Mercedes, Sergio Perez has been signed as the Briton’s replacement alongside Button.

Despite recent turbulence within the McLaren outfit, which has included several disappointing results and another Lewis Hamilton rant on Twitter, speculation has begun to gather momentum that the relationship between Lewis Hamilton and the team, which brought him into the world of Formula 1, has begun to deteriorate. However, Jenson Button has been quick to deny these allegations, stating that the atmosphere within the Woking-based outfit is fantastic.

"The atmosphere in the team is fantastic.” Confirmed Jenson Button to British newspaper The Guardian, “As far as I can see with Lewis, he is focused and wants to win races. Nothing has changed, it is just the view of a few people with a wide audience and they need to get their facts straight."

In recent races since Lewis Hamilton’s announcement confirming his move to Mercedes next season, the 2008 World Champion has endured some utterly disastrous results. Although Hamilton finished in the points at both the Japanese and Korean Grands Prix, the Briton has failed to challenge for race victories or even podiums. Hamilton finished 5th at the Japanese Grand Prix, after further setup woes similar to that witnessed at the Belgian Grand Prix, whereas at Korea last weekend Hamilton could only manage 10th after a rear anti-roll bar failure.

With Mercedes currently also struggling greatly, having been unable to score a point at either of the previous two races, many have questioned Lewis Hamilton’s decision to move to the German marque. After remaining silent on the topic over the recent race weekends, Jenson Button has finally expressed his opinion on his team-mate’s move, which will subsequently end what has been an intriguing three-year partnership at McLaren.

"He has chosen to go his own way at the end of the year.” Continued Jenson Button, “It is his decision, although I personally don’t think it is the right decision. The team will give Lewis everything they can because Lewis can give the team chances of winning races, as I can. The team care about the drivers, but also they care about winning. There will not be any change in this team at all in the way we go racing with two drivers."

After the Korean Grand Prix, both McLaren drivers confirmed that their realistic Championship hopes were now over after a race weekend which only yielded one World Championship point for the whole team. Regardless of this fact, both Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton will unquestionably be striving for further race victories in the final four races of the season.

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