Herbert says Button will only get better

[John S]

Johnny Herbert is a tough old racer himself and has had to work alongside strong teamates himself in F1.  Although I'm biased, I still think Johnny is right and Jens will stay ahead of Lewis this year, he's got the skill and now the all important confidence.

Former grand prix star Johnny Herbert reckons Jenson Button is only going to get stronger as he gets increasingly comfortable at McLaren - and thinks Lewis Hamilton could have his work cut out to regain his supremacy in the team.

Despite widespread predictions that Button would struggle to get on terms with Hamilton from within McLaren, it is the older Briton who has won two of the first four races this year and taken an early championship lead, while Hamilton has yet to taste victory in 2010.

Herbert admitted that he also thought Button had taken on an impossible task by going head to head with Hamilton. "I think Jenson has achieved much more than I thought, only because he was going into Lewis’s team in which he’s [Lewis] happy with his team, they understand him, he understand them, they work very, very well together while Jenson’s coming into a brand new team after winning the championship last year," Herbert told itv.com/f1.

"And to be honest I think after the lucky win let’s say in Australia, it doesn’t matter [that it was lucky], but he got that win and I think that mentally helped him. I think the win that we saw in China was a massive one for him. He outqualified, he outraced Lewis and he’s obviously got himself in the lead of the championship. This is probably a side I haven’t seen from him, that result I think has spurred him on massively."

Herbert said the pressure was now on Hamilton to find a way to respond to Button's run of success. "He’s fitted in very well with the team; he didn’t expect it maybe quite as quickly to happen like it has up against the quality of Lewis, but he’s done that, he’s put pressure on" he said.

"Lewis hasn’t been able to respond and at the moment I think he’s only going to get stronger and stronger because I think his mind’s in the right area at the moment. Lewis is the one who’s under pressure in his team, it’s been taken over by a new Brit."

"But I think the important factor now for Lewis and for Jenson is the guy that can steer the car in the direction he wants, and that will be the key for the championship.

"As we look at it today, I think it’s going in the direction of Jenson. But we have still got a long way to go. "But I think he’s [Jenson] only going to grow and by him growing that’s only going to make it more difficult for Lewis."

ITV-f1.com, Sunday May 2nd