Lewis Hamilton’s reluctance to leave F1 for a different motorsport series could ultimately be his downfall in achieving the ultimate greatest of all-time title. That’s the suggestion from Jenson Button, who believes the best drivers are able to be on top in a multitude of different motorsport series.
Button himself has tried his hand at different types of racing since retiring from F1, such as Le Mans and NASCAR. Max Verstappen appears the next superstar driver to try his hand at something different when his time in F1 is done.
But Hamilton has indicated in the past that he has no immediate plans to leave F1 to compete in an entirely new series. While the seven-time world champion would like to try his hand at IndyCar or MotoGP, racing in a full series appears out of the question.
He said earlier this year: “I’d love to try it at some stage. It’s not a dream for me to go race another series, but I am an admirer. I’m a fan of racing and other sports. So I would like to try it.” That stance would seemingly ruin any chances of Hamilton being regarded as the ‘greatest’ driver of all time – in Button’s eyes at least, who names both Verstappen and Alonso as racing superstars who could take Hamilton’s mantle.
“There’s every possibility that Max [Verstappen] could go down as the greatest but I like the idea that you can’t be the best driver in the world if you haven’t stepped outside of F1,” he told The Times. “Fernando has done a phenomenal job. He left F1 and came and raced in Le Mans and Daytona, won both, then won Le Mans again.
“I don’t think his performance has dropped away in his forties.”
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