Former F1 team-mate claims Lewis Hamilton will be “back to his best" in 2026
Lewis Hamilton struggled during his debut year in Ferrari but his former teammate says he is due a comeback in 2026
Jenson Button believes that Lewis Hamilton will be back performing at the best of his abilities throughout th 2026 season.
The 2009 world champion, who was team-mates with Hamilton at McLaren for three years, admitted that it was "tough to watch" him struggle during his first year at Ferrari in 2025.
However, Button has said that he believes this year's regulation overall will work to his advantage and that the seven-time world champion will be back to winning ways.
Speaking ahead of pre-season testing in Bahrain Button told Sky Sports: “It was tough watching Lewis in 2025. We were teammates for three years. I understand how good he is so it was really tough to see him struggle with the team. And you could see it in his face how much it was hurting."
He added: "You kind of forget everything he’s achieved in that moment in time because you just see the pain.
"But I think with the the new regulation changes we will see Lewis Hamilton back to his best, I really do.
"Because he is going to have input in how the car is designed and have confidence in him taking it in a direction that works for him.
"We want to see Ferrari and the front and we all want to see Lewis fighting at the front again."
When asked if he believes Hamilton is capable of winning his eighth F1 drivers' title this year, Button said: "I'll tell you after the first race whether it's possible or not, but with the way the regulations changes are, anything is possible."
Lewis Hamilton suffered one of his worst campaigns in his F1 career last year, failing to score a grand prix win or a podium finish throughout the entirety of the 2025 season.
However, Hamilton has indicated that there are positive signs that the team has delivered a strong car for
Speaking after private testing Barcelona the British driver said: "My role is to listen to as much as possible. At the end of the day, we both come together and talk about our problems and the positives and the negatives. Then we'll come up with a plan of what we want to tackle tomorrow, as our last day.
"But already, we've got good data so far, so it's just understanding that and making sure you're making really clear and concise decisions in terms of what to test moving forwards before we get to Bahrain.”
