F1: Lewis Hamilton warned Ferrari move could be the ‘end of his career’

Button warns Hamilton

Mercedes star Lewis Hamilton has been warned against a future move to Ferrari by Jenson Button, who says it could spell the end of his former team-mate’s career in Formula 1.

Five-time world champion Hamilton has long been linked with a potential switch to the Scuderia when his contract expires with Mercedes at the end of the 2020 season.

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The 34-year-old is hot favourite to win his sixth F1 title in 2019 and that would leave him only one behind Michael Schumacher’s record of seven championships.

Ex-McLaren driver Button has urged his fellow Brit to stay with the Silver Arrows if he wants to win more titles and break records.

The 2009 champion told Auto Bild: “I’m sure every driver wants to drive for Ferrari. But no driver who is still in their senses would switch from a winning team to one that is not competitive. It would be very brave and unusual for him to go to Ferrari.

“Lewis could win ten world titles at the end if he stays with Mercedes. But if he goes to Ferrari, that could be it - the end of his career.”

‘Nothing personal’

Hamilton’s closest rival in the 2019 championship race is Mercedes team-mate Valterri Bottas.

Following his victory at the British Grand Prix on 14 July Hamilton leads Finnish driver Bottas by 39 points in the standings and is enjoying his best start to a season ever.

When asked about his rivalry for points against team-mate Bottas, Hamilton said his aim is just to win.

He told Racer.com: “Ultimately, there’s nothing personal between us. Coming to the weekend, you are trying to apply the pressure and come out on top.

“I didn’t come to [Silverstone] with the idea that I need to extend or anything like that. I need to work my way towards trying to win, how do I do that, and every weekend it’s slightly different but this has been the strongest year - to this point - that I can remember ever having.”

‘I’m not Nico, I’m Valtteri’

Meanwhile, Bottas has told Motorsport.com that he won’t use a sports psychologist to try and gain an edge on team-mate Hamilton.

Ex-Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg recently revealed that he used a psychologist during his title-winning battle against Hamilton in 2016. However, Bottas has ruled out a similar tactic.

“I don’t think it would work for me,” he said. “Every athlete and every person is individual. Some need some outside support. I have plenty of good people around me I can talk to.

“For me it’s the man in the mirror that gives the answers if I had hard times or doubts and so on. I solve that with myself usually. I don’t really see a gain in that at the moment.

“It is pretty individual. If you look at many other sports, many people use psychologists all the time and get some good help from that, but some not at all.

“I’m not Nico, you know, I’m Valtteri, and I know what works best for me.”