Button: 'He would like Verstappen to be more competitive'
F1 News
- GPblog.com
Lewis Hamilton surpassed Michael Schumacher's record for most victories ever last Sunday and that's an exceptional achievement. Despite the incredible achievement, Hamilton would also like more challenge, suggests former teammate Jenson Button.
The best environment at Mercedes
In conversation with Sky Sports Button praises his compatriot with his performance: "Lewis has obviously found himself in the best environment. He's with Mercedes, they've won every year of the hybrid era, but they're pretty much done it with him every time. So he's doing a fantastic job and 92 wins, it is exceptional."
He continues: "But I really do hope that he is challenged a bit more in the future - and I think that he would want that as well. With the new regulations coming up in 2022, Mercedes won't have it all their own way, which I think is great for Lewis."
He should fight more
Button believes that Hamilton is still hungry for more success as he closes in on a seventh world title. "He's still hungry and you always are when you're winning. It's easy to be hungry when you're winning races. But I think he'd really like someone like Max Verstappen to be able to push him more.
"I really want Red Bull and Ferrari to be more competitive because we want the teams fighting it out for the championship as well. When he's just got his team-mate to worry about, it's not as exciting. He'll still take the win - of course he will, we all would - but fighting towards the end of a race with someone like Verstappen and Red Bull, that's got to mean a lot more to you.
"Lewis will become a seven-time world champion this year and probably an eight-time world champion next year, and then he might have a bit more competition which would be great to see," Button said.