Jenson Button Says Former Teammate Lewis Hamilton Is Asking Too Much From His New Deal With The Silver Arrows

Jenson Button has spoken after it has been reported that his fellow British driver and former teammate Lewis Hamilton is yet to sign a new deal with the Silver Arrows. According to Button, Hamilton could risk his deal with Mercedes because he is asking too much money.

Speaking in Shanghai ahead of the Chinese Grand Prix, Button, who raced with Hamilton for three seasons with McLaren, said that Hamilton could run into trouble as his compatriot tries to ask for more money off the new Mercedes deal.

“It’s tricky for a driver when a team is that competitive because he’s obviously asking for something which is above what he had before,” Button was quoted as saying in an article by The Guardian. “The team will go, ‘we don’t need to pay you that, if you’re not here, then the other guy will win the races that you won.’”

Hamilton has been involved with the talks of his new Mercedes deal since he ended his partnership with XIX management. He previously said that the negotiations were almost done after the second round in Malaysia and said that he hoped to sign the new contract before the 2015 Chinese Grand Prix takes place this weekend.

However, the negotiations reportedly reached a setback. Hamilton said that there are a lot of paperworks that still need to be evaluated.

Button said that he has no plans of getting involved with the negotiations for his contract. Button added that he lets his manager Richard Goddard take care of his contract because he is not used to dealing with contractual agreements that are not written in the language that he is fluent in.

Meanwhile, Button remains optimistic that the renewed McLaren-Honda partnership will be successful in the third race of the season. Button said during the press conference in Shanghai that they hope to take another step forward at the Chinese Grand Prix.

Button finished last in the season-opener in Melbourne and he thought it was a “big step” for the team. In Malaysia, Button and teammate Fernando Alonso were able to push their MP4-30s until they were called to the pits because of technical problems. Button said that they gathered enough useful information from the last race, which he hopes can help them with their campaign in Shanghai.

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