11 January 2024 , 07:00
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Jenson Button is adamant Lewis Hamilton still has what it takes to finally secure that elusive eighth Formula 1 crown.
The Brit thought he'd done it in 2021 but was controversially denied in Abu Dhabi, Max Verstappen taking the glory instead. And the two seasons since have been all about the Dutchman and his Red Bull team.
Mercedes, meanwhile, have been off the pace. They have struggled to provide Hamilton and team-mate George Russell with a car capable of competing with Verstappen and so the seven-time world champion has gone more than two full years without a single race win.
That is the hurdle he must get over first, to add to the 103 F1 victories he has already garnered in his remarkable F1 career. After that, Hamilton might still be able to dream of what would be a record-breaking eighth title.
If Mercedes can up their game, then Button is adamant his old McLaren team-mate still has what it takes to do it. "When you've won for so many years and then suddenly that's taken away from you, it can work in two different ways," said the 2009 world champion.
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"One, you are just like, 'Well, there's no point anymore, I want to retire, I've been at the peak for so long and now I've not won a race in two years'. But also it can make you more hungry to get back to that, and Lewis is in that position right now, I think.
"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 rivals]. If he gets a car that's competitive enough to fight for victories, when someone is that strong and that confident in themselves it's difficult to beat, as you can see with Max Verstappen right now."
Former F1 racer Christijan Albers, on the other hand, has spotted signs of Hamilton losing patience with his current situation. "Hamilton looked quite frustrated at the end of the [2023] season. I can imagine that too," he wrote in Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf.
"Sure, he's had years where he beat everyone, but has now gone two full seasons without a win - that's going to eat at you. He wants [to win] more and more, but struggles with the fact that the Mercedes is not going faster. Then, at the end of the year, you are exhausted and tired. He hasn't had that boost that you need for a while."