Jenson Button says it the old Lewis Hamilton we used to know that is currently driving a Ferrari

Hamilton arrived a changed man at the start of the 2026 Formula 1 season following the lows of his previous season, as he was still getting to grips with being a Ferrari driver.

Changes made on several fronts meant Hamilton has improved massively this year, proving he did not forget how to drive an F1 car fast, as he also seems to be enjoying the current generation of cars without ground effect.

Hamilton's upward performance curve reached a high with his win in Barcelona, and while his Austrian Grand Prix weekend was a humbling experience after finishing fifth, he remained the better Ferrari driver, which has been the case for the last few races with Charles Leclerc lost at sea.

The 2009 F1 Champion and current pundit Jenson Button said: "Lewis is definitely arriving with confidence. It didn't go his way in the last race, but it wasn't down to him. The package just wasn't there.

"Compare him to his team-mate Charles Leclerc, who's very well regarded, and Lewis came out on top again. He could make those tyres last a lot better at the start of the race, had the pace when his teammate didn't.

"He won't be happy with the result, but he'll know he got the maximum out of it. And it's the old Lewis that we used to know; he's maximizing everything, and it's really good to see," Button explained.

"He'll be confident coming home to slightly lower temperatures," Hamilton's McLaren teammate between 2010 and 2012 added. "The Ferrari is pretty good aero-wise. Silverstone is primarily a power circuit, but you still got to carry the speed through the corners down the straight.

"I think I'll be confident coming in that he's got a chance for the victory," he predicted.

Button shared some of his knowledge of Hamilton's driving style from their days as teammates to back his prediction; he said: "He's very good at driving a car that the setup is on the nose.

"You need that around Silverstone; you need to be able to carry the speed through high-speed parts of the track but also to be able to handle changes of direction. That's a big part of it.

"I think that's where his strength is. The comparison I had with him was he could drive a car that was on the nose, which is the quickest car around there," Button concluded.

Hamilton had an unprecedented record at Silverstone winning there nine times, with his most recent win in 2024, his last as a Mercedes driver. (Source: Sky Sports)