Jenson Button: Lewis Hamilton can beat Michael Schumacher's seven world titles

Jenson Button has backed Lewis Hamilton to go on to challenge Michael Schumacher’s record seven world titles.

Hamilton heads into Sunday’s United States Grand Prix with a 59‑point lead over Sebastian Vettel with four races remaining and just 100 points still on offer, and his former McLaren team-mate insisted title No4 was already “a done deal”.

Button said: “Both Lewis and Sebastian have a chance of beating Michael’s record, but you’d say Lewis is in the better position in terms of his team. Mercedes have far greater consistency, while Ferrari can dip in and out of form a little bit.

“There’s definitely a chance for Lewis to challenge Michael’s seven world championships, it’s just whether he will hang around for that long. It’s easy to stay around if you have a winning car and I think he’ll keep on if he’s still winning. It’s all about motivation and, at the moment, you can see that’s pretty high with Lewis.”

Hamilton will sew up the title in Austin this weekend if he scores 16 points more than Vettel, so if he wins his rival would have to finish at least fifth to continue the fight.

Should the Briton wrap up the championship, only Schumacher and five-times world champion Juan Manuel Fangio would lie ahead of him in the record books.

“Lewis’s natural ability is extraordinary,” added Button. “He’s probably the most naturally gifted driver ever and he seems as determined as ever.

“When I used to be his team-mate, he’d do things on track that would just leave me saying, ‘Wow’.

“For example, I’d be quicker all weekend and then, bam, he’d come out in qualifying and be three-tenths of a second quicker than me. He’s very good at pushing the car to the absolute limit.”