Jenson Button picks Lewis Hamilton’s former teammate to replace him at Mercedes F1 next season

Former F1 driver Jenson Button reckons Fernando Alonso would be a good replacement for Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes. Hamilton shook the F1 fanbase by choosing to move to Ferrari in 2025.

Since one Mercedes seat would be vacant after 2024, Button feels the current Aston Martin driver could fit in it quite nicely. Speaking on Sky Sports F1 special live show for Lewis Hamilton's announcement, Button joked that he might have a man crush on his former teammate Alonso and picked him as a replacement for the 39-year-old Brit at Mercedes.

"Alongside George...I mean, I have to say...yeah, I might have a man crush on my ex-teammate, Fernando Alonso! But I would love to see Fernando Alonso."

Button praised the Spaniard, claiming that he still has the hunger in him to compete at a high level. He also mentioned how Alonso still drives different kinds of race cars during the off-season. At last, he touched upon the Spaniard's potential partnership with George Russell and believes that they can learn from one another if they end up on the same team.

"You know, he is 42 now I think, but the hunger's there. And if the hunger's there and fitness is there, he drives every day, he's driving a go-kart or some sort of race car. I think it will be a cool partnership. I think they would learn from each other pretty well and it would work well together."

Fernando Alonso, who partnered Button at McLaren in 2015 and 2016 and Hamilton at McLaren Mercedes in 2007, is currently racing for Aston Martin and has sung lots of praise for their future roadmap in Formula 1. However, the veteran driver has a history of quizzical team changes, especially if a team is not performing well.

Alonso's current contract with Aston Martin ends in 2024. Hence, if Aston Martin fails to deliver a decent package in 2024, one can't rule out Alonso taking a glance at Lewis Hamilton's seat in 2025.

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Fernando Alonso approved Mercedes' decision to keep Lewis Hamilton in 2023

Back in August 2023, Fernando Alonso showered praise on Lewis Hamilton and indirectly backed Mercedes' decision to extend the seven-time world champion's contract. Alonso, 42, told Mundo Deportivo that Hamilton still has the potential to perform brilliantly, even though an athlete's performance can plummet as they age.

“Until now, no one has shown it to me so far. Age can sometimes be a problem with demotivation, or you see that you are no longer at 100% of your performance – or your focus and your concerns are other than F1. Something like that can happen with age and because of the life we have."

“But in the case of Hamilton, who continues to perform at 100 percent and his concern is F1 – like in my case – it isn’t a problem. When someone faster comes, we’ll talk, but at the moment, Hamilton is faster than anyone,” he added, via PlanetF1.

Lewis Hamilton extended his contract with Mercedes until the end of the 2025 season but seemingly had an exit clause that he had the freedom to activate from 2024. Hence, he is now able to leave the Silver Arrows after 2024 and join Ferrari.