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Button 'an extraordinary British champion' - Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton has described Jenson Button as "an extraordinary British champion" after the news his former McLaren team-mate will not race in 2017.

Button announced on Saturday that he has signed a two-year deal with McLaren to become an ambassador for the team next season, with Stoffel Vandoorne taking over his race seat. Button will remain as a reserve driver and help McLaren with its development, while the team as an option on him to race in 2018.

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After hearing the news, Hamilton - who was team-mate with the 2009 world champion at McLaren from 2010 until 2012 - praised Button for his contribution to F1.

"Jenson's been an extraordinary British champion," Hamilton said. "I remember watching him when he first got to Formula One on a weekend with my dad, eating bacon sarnies, watching Jenson doing what I was dreaming to do.

"He's done 17 years now, a long, long stint in this sport, but what he has given to it is fantastic."

Jenson Button: 17 years racing in F1

And while Hamilton acknowledges Button's experience, he says the 36-year-old is still fit enough to return to F1 if he chooses to in 2018.

"We were joking in the drivers' briefing the other day. Max [Verstappen] was sitting next to me, along with Jenson and Felipe [Massa], and Jenson told Max: 'You were just one-year-old when I first got to Formula One'. That was kind of crazy.

"But Jenson is still young, still healthy, still fit, so I wish him all the best for the future."

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.