Jenson Button feels Lewis Hamilton will put ‘a lot of pressure’ on Mercedes teammate George Russell

Jenson Button, a former F1 driver and world champion, feels George Russell will have a lot of pressure to face racing beside Lewis Hamilton in the 2023 F1 season despite the success he had the previous season.

After Lewis Hamilton's disappointing season with the W13 in the past year, he is expected to make a comeback and Button feels that it will not be so easy on young Russell to have such a competitive teammate.

Button told Sky Sports:

"I look forward to seeing that, it’s going to put a lot of pressure on George Russell at Mercedes but I think it’s a good pairing and I look forward to that fight."

Lewis Hamilton had a major fallback in the 2022 season after the Mercedes W13 didn't perform as competitively as its predecessors. This made it hard for the Briton to even battle his teammate and ended up losing.

Jenson Button, too, has been Hamilton's teammate earlier in his career and was one of the three people who have ever managed to beat the 7-time world champion in the same machinery, with the latest one being George Russell himself.

However, since Button has raced with Hamilton previously, he feels that with the Briton being in a much more competitive car (as the W14 is expected to be), he believes that Russell will be under immense pressure during the season.

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Button positive about Lewis Hamilton's comeback in 2023

The Mercedes W13 was incredibly slow in comparison to its competitors and though the entire team was affected by it, Lewis Hamilton had its worst share. The former world champion couldn't even get past his teammate since he was acquainted with driving a much better car for the past decade while Russell had been driving a Williams.

While this helped the young Briton beat Hamilton, things can turn out to be different for the upcoming season. The W14 is expected to be much more competitive and it will probably be of major advantage to Hamilton. Button stated that he is confident about the same:

"His performances were very consistent through mid to end of the season. Very, very quick. I think he’ll start this year flat out. He’s going to be on it from the word go."

While George Russell will be eyeing an even better finish in the upcoming season, it is true that he will have to keep an eye out for Hamilton as he tries to bag his eighth world championship.