2009 Formula 1 Drivers’ Champion Jenson Button examines the current pool of talented drivers in the sport, and highlights both Mercedes and McLaren as standout pairings ahead of the upcoming season.
Mercedes no doubt have an outstanding driver pairing, and with the silver arrows hungry to fight their way back to championship winning form, Lewis Hamilton and George Russell may well present a force to reckon with in the 2024 season.
Having suffered through two consecutive difficult seasons with the team who have been a dominant force in the sport since the beginning of the turbo hybrid era, 7 time champion and Formula 1 veteran Lewis Hamilton will be keen to show his race winning form once again in 2024. With proven race winner George Russell alongside, Mercedes definitely have a formidable pairing.
“For George to get as close as he has to Lewis is impressive.”
Discussing the upcoming season, former champion Button highlighted the talent at Mercedes, but warned against overlooking the young but impressive pairing at McLaren. Lando Norris as well as 2023 rookie Oscar Piastri have both proven they can perform under pressure and demonstrate the raw pace needed to claim victories in Formula 1.
Despite this, he expects Mercedes to be the team to challenge the dominance of Red Bull next season.
“There are some seriously strong driver line-ups,” Button said, speaking with Sky Sports. “Mercedes, can’t go past those two. I know Lewis, we were team-mates for three years, and for George to get as close as he has to Lewis is impressive.”
“When you look at the last 10 years in the sport, it’s Mercedes and Red Bull, so it would be Mercedes,” He stated when asked who he believes would challenge Red Bull. “I would love to say Ferrari, I would love to have them in the mix. You could say they were the closest competitor especially towards the end of the season, but I think Mercedes will have a good improvement. Whether it’s enough, I don’t know.”
Delving further into his thoughts, he drew attention to the seemingly unstoppable drive Lewis Hamilton has shown during the course of his career.
“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. That’s tough [for his opponents].
“If he gets a car that’s competitive enough to fight for victories, when someone’s that strong and that confident in themselves it’s difficult to beat, as you can see with Max Verstappen right now.”
“So those two drivers will definitely push McLaren forward a bit as well.”
Looking to McLaren, while Button acknowledged Piastri suffered from a lack of consistency during the 2023 season, he argues this can be excused as the young Australian got to grips with the demands of Formula 1. He went on to explain he expects Piastri to put his year of experience to good use in order to challenge his teammate next season.
“But in terms of the young guns at McLaren, super strong.” He said. “Oscar with a year under his belt, he’ll have more consistency going into the 2024 season. He had glimpses of greatness [in 2023] obviously but then consistency just wasn’t there, I think he ended up with less than half the points of Lando.
“But coming into a second season he’s got that under his belt, I think he’ll be competitive. So those two drivers will definitely push McLaren forward a bit as well.”
With two highly competitive young drivers, both eager to prove their race winning abilities in Formula 1, it’s easy to imagine a 2024 season in which McLaren mount a challenge to the established title winners at Mercedes as well as the dominant Red Bull.
While the dominance of Red Bull may prove difficult to overcome, the determination in both the Mercedes and McLaren camps promise an exciting season to come.
