Button: 'Hamilton has Verstappen as his main opponent this year'

Red Bull Racing has had a good winter test where Mercedes still has some hurdles to overcome. We will see how things work out this weekend when the first Grand Prix is held. But with the cars as they are now, it looks like it will be a real battle between Mercedes and Red Bull Racing.

Challenger in Verstappen

Lewis Hamilton has a bit of a challenger in Valtteri Bottas, but in recent years he has proven to be quite easy on his Finnish teammate. Max Verstappen is a more difficult story, and with Red Bull Racing now looking very close, it's the Dutchman who might be able to give Hamilton a hard time on his way to an eighth title.

Jenson Button was asked for his opinion on this by Sky Sports. Button: "He’s gonna have some competition, which I’m sure he wants. He’s got his teammate Valterri Bottas who has been relatively competitive, but when you have another team of drivers that are fighting you for the championship, I think it makes it that a little bit more exciting.

So, Max Verstappen I think, is his main competitor in 2021. So I’m really looking forward to his first race this weekend." What may also help well in that context is that Verstappen may now have a good one in Sergio Perez, where Alexander Albon failed last year. That together with a better car could make things very difficult for Mercedes, but nevertheless, Hamilton is still favourite.

Seven championships

"I think he is a title favourite and Mercedes are, because they've won the last seven championships and every year we’ve had a hybrid engine, they’ve won. So they have the experience, but Red Bull also. Red Bull has won four championships back to back to back to back. So I think those two teams going at it is really, really exciting.

It’s great for F1, it’s great for all the fans watching. And even if you are a Lewis fan, you still want him to have that competition. But I still think he has a very good chance of getting that eight title and be the most successful driver in F1 history," said the 2009 F1 champion.