Jenson Button learned all he needs to know from the way Lewis Hamilton reacted to being beaten by George Russell in qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix.
The 2023 Formula 1 season has been difficult so far for Mercedes, who have continued their struggles from last year. The race weekends in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia brought little joy for the Silver Arrows, but their fortunes could change in Melbourne.
Fernando Alonso was seen as the best placed racer to challenge the Red Bulls, but Mercedes found their groove at the perfect time. Russell was able to go second quickest in Q3 to start the race on the front row alongside Max Verstappen, while Hamilton set a time good enough for third.
It was a "totally unexpected" result as far as Hamilton was concerned and he was full of praise for his team-mate afterwards. He said: "George did a fantastic job there today and for us to be up there on the two front rows is honestly a dream for us. We're all working as hard as we can to get right back up the front so to be this close to the Red Bull is honestly incredible.
"We hope tomorrow we can give them a bit of a run for their money, and hope the weather is good. The second lap wasn't as good as the first one. I did get a little bit further ahead in the last sector but ultimately I lost out a little bit in the beginning. But I'm not disappointed – I'm super grateful for this position and I'm going to work as hard as I can to move forward tomorrow."
That reaction caught the eye of 2009 world champion Button. Speaking on Sky Sports, he found it interesting that Hamilton was still so upbeat despite having been out-qualified by his team-mate for the third race in a row.
" I was surprised how close the Mercedes drivers were to Max," said Button. "It was a great job by them. For Lewis to be that happy and be behind his team-mate shows how pleasantly surprised they are to be where they are.
"Lewis will start on a nice side of the grid. Mercedes are a great team at understanding strategy in a difficult situation and that was today. I think they did the best job out there."
Meanwhile, Hamilton thinks he and Russell might be able to work together to reel in Verstappen ahead of them. "The fact that there's two of us and one Red Bull, with strategy, maybe we can apply some pressure to them," said the seven-time world champion.
