Hamilton rooting for Button as Silverstone era nears end
WORLD champion Lewis Hamilton insists he wants his successor-in-waiting Jenson Button to win this weekend’s British Grand Prix.
Hamilton concedes his own McLaren’s poor performance leaves him only the slimmest chance of recording back-to-back victories at Silverstone on Sunday.
So the Englishman would like to see his compatriot experience the unique joy of winning on home soil – and is so confident runaway title leader Button will triumph that he may even stake some cash on it.
“From my perspective it will be great if Jenson wins. I’m egging him on, and I guess I should put some money on him,” said Hamilton.
“It will be a proud moment to have a fellow Brit win, and I’ll be able to understand exactly how he is feeling. His lifelong dream is to win the British Grand Prix at Silverstone and I’m sure it will be more special for him than his win at Monaco last month. I know it was for me.”
Practice gets underway today for the last grand prix at Silverstone for the foreseeable future, and Hamilton for one is looking forward to returning to the scene of his proudest moment.
“Last year was incredible. Every time I went past the grandstands I could see out of the corner of my eye the fans waving flags and cheering, even though it was soaking wet, raining non-stop,” he added.
“It was the most fulfilling race of my whole life, and the amount of support was very special. Unfortunately, this year I’ve just not got the car.”
Button, meanwhile, has played down suggestions his dramatic improvement this season is solely down to his Brawn GP car.
“When you are in a football team you don’t say how much was the goalkeeper worth, how much was the defender, the striker,” said Button, who has won six of this year’s seven races. “It’s a team effort, and that’s what Formula One is.”