Lewis Hamilton warned to expect ‘different way of racing’ when he joins Ferrari

Lewis Hamilton will experience “a different way of racing” when he joins Ferrari, according to his former teammate and 2009 F1 world champion Jenson Button.

The seven-time world champion will join Charles Leclerc at Ferrari next season when he completes his bombshell switch from Mercedes to replace Carlos Sainz.

The dynamic between Hamilton and Leclerc is set to be one of the most fascinating storylines to follow and Button, who was Hamilton’s teammate at McLaren between 2010 and 2012, reckons it can be a success.

“I think if it was Lewis of sort of seven, eight years ago, it will be a tricky relationship,” Button told the Sky Sports F1 podcast.

“But now, he just seems so relaxed in himself and no, I don’t think they’re going to have issues as being team-mates at all. No more than Carlos [Sainz] and Charles have right now.

“Do I think they’ll work well together? Yes. I think the positives that Charles has, he knows the team, speaks Italian. If he wanted to, he could make it really really difficult for Lewis and that team, the atmosphere.

“And you can say, ‘Well, that’s not sportsmanlike’, but that’s part of racing and Nico Rosberg will tell you that as well. It’s about getting the team of people behind you, so that gives you strength and it takes away strength from your team-mate.

“But, Lewis has been around long enough to understand the situation and I’m really, really looking forward to that fight between team-mates.”

However, Button says Hamilton will have to prepare himself for the unique responsibility that comes with being a Ferrari driver.

“Obviously, they’re working together, they’re Ferrari. It’s all about Ferrari. That’s the one thing with Ferrari,” he added.

“In every other team, you can kind of say, ‘Yeah, the driver is out for himself’. And the team obviously. But in Ferrari, everyone works for Ferrari. It’s all about Ferrari winning the world championships.

“It’s a different way of racing, definitely, for someone like Lewis, who is such a star in this sport. Suddenly, he’s kind of working for Ferrari to win the championship.

“So I look forward to seeing the dynamic there and that’s going to be very exciting next year.”