Lewis Hamilton’s protracted struggle to reclaim his winning aura has prompted Jenson Button to underscore just how pivotal a Ferrari resurgence would be for the sport’s broader mythology. Despite carrying seven world titles and a legacy carved into Formula One’s marble halls, Hamilton has wandered through a bleak, victory-less desert since his inherited win at the 2024 Belgian Grand Prix. His leap to Maranello — buoyed by nostalgia, ambition, and a desperate hunger to challenge for championships again — has instead delivered a season steeped in frustration, self-doubt, and the grim realisation that Ferrari’s promise was little more than romantic illusion.
The 40-year-old’s debut campaign in scarlet has been nothing short of punishing. Far from the triumphant rebirth he envisioned, Hamilton recently likened the experience to a “nightmare,” conceding that the SF-25’s fickle temperament has obscured even fleeting chances of climbing the podium. With the 2025 calendar dwindling, time is rapidly evaporating — though the cavernous shift of 2026’s regulations offers a faint glimmer that his twilight years may yet be salvaged.
Button, however, remains one of Hamilton’s most vocal defenders. The 2009 world champion insists that the chaos surrounding Hamilton’s form is less a decline and more a predictable byproduct of adjusting to Ferrari’s uniquely demanding machinery. He argues that while Hamilton initially lagged behind in deciphering the car’s nuances, recent weekends have revealed competitive flashes — hampered only by minor missteps, ill-timed setbacks, and the cruel margin separating promise from podiums.
Having retired from motorsport himself, Button speaks with the perspective of a man who has weathered the sport’s unforgiving transitions. He notes that every driver suffers when thrust into a new team’s ecosystem, yet Hamilton’s pace relative to Charles Leclerc is now largely comparable. Button emphasises that with a bit more precision on Saturdays and fewer self-inflicted wounds, both Ferrari drivers are primed to re-enter podium contention.
Ultimately, Button frames Hamilton’s resurgence as a symbolic necessity for Formula One’s emotional fabric. Ferrari restored to the rostrum, Hamilton reclaiming a place among race-day protagonists — these are moments that elevate the sport beyond engineering and aerodynamics. For Button, a late-season victory or even a podium would not merely reward Hamilton’s perseverance; it would reaffirm Ferrari’s mystique and reignite a global fanbase hungry for one more chapter in the legend of Lewis Hamilton.
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