Button: Hamilton could have edge on Verstappen in 2024…

By Joe Murphy

Jenson Button thinks Mercedes could be Constructors Champions in 2024 after significant changes are being made to the car.

All signs indicate that the gap between runaway 2023 winners Red Bull and the chasing back, is indeed closing. Significant changes by all teams in terms of pace mean it might not be as easy for Perez and Verstappen this year. In fact, what we could be in store for is more of the battles that we saw last year, just not thirty seconds behind the Dutchman this time.

Having won only a single Grand Prix since F1’s regulations were completely changed in 2022, Mercedes expect a very different car for 2024. Whilst others such as Aston Martin, Ferrari and even McLaren look to also make the step up, it is the Silver Arrows that former World Champ Button believes will be the best placed to put a challenge in.

“When you look at the last 10 years in the sport, it’s Mercedes and Red Bull, so it would be Mercedes (who are best placed to beat them).

When scrutinised for a name of who particularly could be in contention, Button named a fellow countryman and former teammate, controversially suggesting Lewis to be better now than he was when winning four world championships in a row five years ago.

In fact, he went as far to to claim that Hamilton, who hasn’t won a race for nearly 50 Grand Prix now, remains as formidable a force as ever ahead of his 18th season in the sport, backing him to get back to winning ways despite celebrating his 39th birthday not so long ago. Button thinks Lewis is also as “hungry as ever”, something you need in order to continue to hang with the world’s best drivers.

“Lewis is as good as ever I would say in terms of his outright speed, but also now he seems much more comfortable in himself and confident in his ability, so he makes fewer mistakes. So he’s even better now than he was five or six years ago.

If he does indeed find that pace, then Hamilton could find himself “tough to beat” over the next couple of years. Something Max Verstappen knows all too well.