Why Jenson Button once criticised Lewis Hamilton for joining Mercedes despite winning six titles with them

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Lewis Hamilton has never been afraid to make a bold career choice, and it’s part of the reason why he’s a seven-time champion.

Joining Ferrari hasn’t panned out as he would have hoped so far, but there’s still plenty of time left for him to achieve a dream eighth drivers’ championship.

Things weren’t all bliss when he joined Mercedes back in 2013, as he took an incredible gamble to move back into the midfield, with a view to the future.

And it ended up being one of Hamilton’s greatest ever decisions. It was one season’s worth of pain for a lifetime of gain.

Hamilton wasted precious time at Ferrari trying to replicate what made him so successful with the Silver Arrows. He realises what is needed to go to the next level with the Scuderia.

Towards the end of his time with the German manufacturer, Hamilton made ‘weird’ Mercedes complaints and looked past his best. It’s why there was so much excitement and buzz for his new beginning at Ferrari.

READ MORE: Five worst moments of Lewis Hamilton’s F1 career including Chinese GP woe and Italian GP disaster

Jenson Button once criticised Lewis Hamilton because he ‘didn’t know’ what Mercedes would become

Toto Wolff took an ‘insecure’ measure against Hamilton, and Guenther Steiner believes that putting him on the same strategies as his teammates was done to avoid criticism. It was the easy option.

Before winning any of his titles, Hamilton’s leap from McLaren, who were a title-contending operation, to Mercedes was viewed as borderline insanity.

The performance deficit was a bit like jumping from Ferrari to an Aston Martin or Williams. They were usually around the points in 2012, but had their bad weekends.

Speaking on the Beyond The Grid podcast a few years ago, Hamilton’s ex-teammate Jenson Button criticised the move, even after he had won many titles with them.

“When Lewis moved to Mercedes, you can say, ‘Ah, Lewis, what a great decision, what a clever guy!’ No, he didn’t know what they were going to achieve, no one did,” he said.

“He moved because he was frustrated, because he had reliability issues at McLaren. I don’t know what he was offered to go to Mercedes, but nobody expected Mercedes to achieve what they’ve achieved.”

READ MORE: Lewis Hamilton accused of ‘staging’ message to Ferrari with his ‘exaggerated’ claims at the Hungarian Grand Prix

Why Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes move was timed to perfection

Hamilton jumped ship from McLaren just as they began to suffer a dip in performance. It was a dip that took them 10 years to recover from.

Mercedes, on the other hand, were the perfect outfit to join. They were a manufacturer who had invested heavily in the new regulations for 2014, and they reaped the rewards of it.

They had the best and most reliable engine in the sport for some time, and it was a major player in Hamilton’s success.

After 18 years powered by the German manufacturer, making the transition to Ferrari power won’t have been easy. Driveability and buttons within the cockpit are all so different, but he may yet come good.