Jenson Button offers Hamilton help to win the Title
F1 Update – A TYPICALLY sarcastic Jenson Button has joked that Lewis Hamilton should pay him to crash into Nico Rosberg if he wants to claim a fourth world title.
Heading into the final race of the season, the Duel in the Desert in Abu Dhabi, Hamilton must win and then hope his Mercedes teammate finishes fourth or lower to seal an unlikely and spectacular turnaround.
A Rosberg retirement or crash could be Hamilton’s best way of achieving just that and Button, preparing for his last grand prix ahead of a year-long sabbatical at McLaren, has laid out a comical proposal for his countryman.
Asked by GQ Magazine whether Rosberg, 12 points ahead of Hamilton, will seal a maiden world championship this weekend, the Brit said: “Well, unless one of us crashes into him. I mean, Lewis is very rich and has a lot of money, flies around in a private jet, so I’m sure he can afford to pay me.
“The only possibility, however, would be when Nico laps me because we’re not fast enough. Anyway, I’m open to offers. And anyway, I’m retiring … sorry, taking a sabbatical.”
One of the things he might miss during his break from the sport is spending time with Aussie Daniel Ricciardo, whom he admitted he has a bit of a man-crash on.
“I think you need more personalities in F1,” he told GQ. “That’s why I’m really happy we have someone like Daniel Ricciardo in the sport, Ricky Bobby as I call him.
“He’s a good friend and he really doesn’t care, in many ways, what people think of him … he is just himself. I love that about him.”
Mercedes’ dominance of the sport is unquestioned. Really the only matter up for debate all season has been which Silver Arrows driver would finish the season on top.
Given Hamilton needs Rosberg to finish fourth or lower to stand any chance of winning, Red Bull boss Christian Horner had some advice for the Englishman. He said Hamilton needed to provide some support to other drivers on the grid, like Ricciardo and Red Bull teammate Max Verstappen.
“There’s no point Lewis being ahead by half a lap — if he’s smart he’s going to back the cars up so there is racing behind him because that’s the only way the result will fall his way,” Horner said.
“In reality a top-three finish is a straightforward result for a Mercedes driver but he’s probably going to be watching his mirrors harder than everybody else in the field. He’s got everything at stake.
“Lewis’s job in some ways is easier as Nico is the one with the pressure on him to close out the championship.
“We could be Lewis’s best friend on Sunday if we manage to get both cars ahead of Nico.”
Ricciardo sits third in the Drivers Championship and has tipped Rosberg to hold off Hamilton and claim this year’s title.
“For me, I don’t favour anyone. I got asked earlier in the year who would win it and I said Nico I think because everyone else was saying Lewis,” he said.
“But if you ask me again now, I’d still say Rosberg because he is in the better seat to do it this weekend.”
The Red Bull star added that no matter who wins the title, they will be a deserving champion.
“If you look at Lewis and Nico, whoever ends up champion this weekend, they will both have their merit for it,” he said.
“Rosberg has had a lot of poles and wins, he’s been on some good streaks and converted a lot of front rows to victories, whereas Lewis has made comebacks.
“So if Lewis wins it will be like ‘amazing comeback’ and if Nico wins it will be ‘well he was there all year’.”
The 27-year-old could yet play a vital role in the title fight if he is able to take points off Rosberg or Hamilton and he has warned them not to expect any favours.
“I won’t favour any driver, but if I can get myself up on the podium and get another bit of silverware I’ll do that and if it changes the result in the championship so be it. We’ll try and have some fun, hopefully it is not a stationary static race.”
If he does make it to the podium in Abu Dhabi, perhaps we’ll be treated to a performance like this in place of his trademark “shoey”.
Category: Formula One
