F1 LEGEND Jenson Button thinks his former team-mate and "man crush" is the standout candidate to replace Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes next year.
Hamilton shocked the world of motorsport last week by announcing that he would be switching to Ferrari for 2025 and 2026 after triggering a secret contract clause and signing an £100million mega-deal.
The Mercedes job is one of the hottest seats in F1, and a number of drivers will be gunning to fill the empty space beside George Russell.
Former world champion Button reckons no one is more suited to the job than his old team-mate, Fernando Alonso.
Button told Sky F1: “I might have a bit of a man-crush on my ex-team-mate, but I would love to see Fernando Alonso.
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“He is 42 now, but the hunger is there. And if the hunger is there, the fitness is there.
"He drives every day in a go-kart or some sort of race car.
“If he’s there, I think it’d be a cool partnership.
"I think they’d learn from each other pretty well and work well together.”
As two-time world champion, Alonso's got the credentials and is still performing, having led Aston Martin to eight podiums last season.
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And despite only joining the team last season, he’s out of contract at the end of next year.
Button, who was Hamilton's team-mate at McClaren from 2010 to 2012, went on to praise his fellow Brit's decision, saying: “For Lewis, this is a brave move, and a lot of respect to him.
“He’s not just going to another team, he’s going to Ferrari.
"He’s going to a team where they speak Italian, a language he doesn’t know, and a language Charles [Leclerc] does know very well.
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“This is a biggie.
So I’m excited for this and it’s great for F1.”
