The 2008 world champion insisted, however, that Button will be one of his main rivals for the title next year, regardless of the car he'll drive in the championship. As for his projected signing with McLaren-Mercedes, as long as this would help the team become stronger in the series, he'll have no problem with that.
“He'll be a tough competitor next year – whether at Brawn or Mercedes. I don't mind who comes to the team as long as they come in peace and bring peace and want to be productive and move the team forward,” said Hamilton.
That “peace” thing seems to betray Hamilton's view of his 2010 teammate however, as it's not rocket science that the British driver doesn't want his position within the McLaren team to be threatened by another top class driver. Although both Nico Rosberg and Jenson Button have been linked with the job, it seems neither of them will actually drive for the silver arrows next year.
The last time Ham had a tough competitor to work against in the championship was at his F1 debut, in 2007. Known to come into F1 as Ron Dennis' protege, Hamilton put in a great fight against 2-time world champion and teammate Fernando Alonso and almost clinched the 2007 title. However, the constant quarreling inside Team McLaren caused Ham to lose the title and Alonso to leave the outfit at the end of the season.
Hamilton surely doesn't want a repeat of that situation next year, as he repeatedly admitted that he would feel more comfortable continuing alongside Heikki Kovalainen for another season.
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