Jenson Button has argued that Lewis Hamilton's return to form is primarily down to the latest generation of Formula 1 machinery suiting his driving style, rather than simply settling into his new surroundings at Ferrari.
The seven-time champion has bounced back this season. He secured his first grand prix podium finish as a Ferrari driver with third place at the Chinese Grand Prix.
He went on to secure two further podiums with second place finishes at the Canadian and Monaco Grands Prix before celebrating his maiden Ferrari grand prix win at the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix.
Hamilton moved to Ferrari at the beginning of 2025 after a 12-year stint with Mercedes. The 41-year-old struggled during his first season with the Maranello outfit as he adjusted to the new team, but while Button agreed that Hamilton becoming more comfortable within the team this year has played a part in his return to form, he believes the new-regulation cars have had more of an impact.
"I'm sure over the winter they had time to sit down and discuss what worked for him, what doesn't work for him," Button explained during an appearance on the Sky Sports F1 Show.
"It's the first year, you know, their relationship, the engineer relationship is always a really tricky one as well, especially when you've left someone like Bono [Peter Bonnington] at Mercedes. It's such a close relationship. So, it does take a minute.
"It has to be part of it, but I still think the biggest part of it is just the car. The car suits his style more. It's a Formula 1 car he's used to driving in terms of feel. For me, that is way above settling into a team and making them listen."
He added: "He wasn't there at Mercedes either the last four years. He's not really been the Lewis that we remember, absolutely annihilating his team-mate in qualifying. George [Russell] had the better of him quite a lot of the time. So, I think it's down more so to the style of cars. We're back to a car that's more natural now. It's more of a normal Formula 1 car."
