Button backs Hamilton for 2016 title

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Jenson Button says that he believes Lewis Hamilton will see off the strong challenge from Nico Rosberg and will emerge victorious in this year's world championship.

Rosberg had a perfect start to the season with four wins in a row to put himself 43 points ahead of his Mercedes team mate, but Hamilton subsequently overhauled that gap and overtook Rosberg after winning in Hungary.

Hamilton stretched his lead to 19 points before the summer break, but engine penalties at Spa and a problematic start at Monza has allowed Rosberg to get back to within two points again.

Despite the momentum having apparently shifted in Rosberg's favour, Button was firmly of the view that Hamilton - his former team mate at McLaren for three years - would end up on top.

“I personally feel that Lewis - you know, Italy didn't go his way but I think he's going to win the world championship," Button said in an interview with Sky Sports F1 after announcing he was taking a sabbatical in 2017.

"He's come from such a long way back, I think everyone forgets how far he was behind Rosberg and he closed that gap over three races.

"For me, Lewis - when the car's working for him - the results are a lot more consistent. His qualifying's impressive, and I think in a race you know he's in a very strong position.

"Mentally he's a lot stronger than he used to be, he's got a really good chance and he probably is going to win a fourth world title."

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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.