Jenson Button has scoffed at the idea of Lewis Hamilton moving to Ferrari from Mercedes, reasoning that “such a big shift” would make for a “completely different” experience for him.

Hamilton has recently been linked with a potential move to the Scuderia for 2024 with his current Mercedes deal due to expire at the end of the year, though the seven-time World Champion and Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur both said in Monaco that no approach has been made for his signature.

2009 World Champion Button, Hamilton’s team-mate at McLaren for three seasons, believes the cultural differences in moving to Formula 1’s most storied team would make for an entirely different kind of pressure to what he has faced in his career to date at McLaren and Mercedes.

While Button acknowledged such a move would be something “we would all love to see”, he believes his former colleague knows in his heart of hearts that staying where he is at Mercedes is the logical thing to do.

“For me, it’s the last team that I would see Lewis at,” Button said on Sky Sports F1 when asked about the Hamilton to Ferrari rumours.

“And the reason is it’s such a big shift for a driver to race for an Italian team. It’s completely different to anything he’s experienced before racing with McLaren and Mercedes.

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“It’s a big shift. The team is based in Italy obviously as well, which is different, and they just go about their business in a different way.

“But we would all love to see it – I think a lot of people would. We all love a shift when a driver goes to a different team.

“It’s fun [to] see how they interact with a new team-mate, but personally, [the] best place for Lewis is with Mercedes, and he knows that.”

Hamilton responded to the links with Ferrari by claiming a new deal with Mercedes is close to being finalised, saying his management are “almost there” in agreeing new terms to continue with the Silver Arrows beyond the end of the year.

The article Jenson Button delivers damning verdict on Lewis Hamilton to Ferrari rumours appeared first on Planetf1.com.