Lewis Hamilton hopes his ex-Formula One team-mate Jenson Button replaces Fernando Alonso at this year's Monaco Grand Prix.
Alonso is due to race at the Indy 500 in May after McLaren-Honda secured a deal with Andretti Autosport for him to take part in the famous race. The deal will see the Spaniard miss the Monaco Grand Prix, but as of Wednesday McLaren admitted that it does not yet have a replacement confirmed for the street race.
Button is currently contracted to McLaren as its reserve driver and last raced for the team in Abu Dhabi last year -- making him the obvious choice -- but the lack of a formal announcement has left the F1 paddock guessing whether he really wants the Monaco drive. Hamilton believes Button is the obvious choice and thinks it would be good for F1 for the 2009 champion to make a one-off return.
"I think, firstly, it's great that a driver is able to do that [race in the Indy 500]," he said. "I think us drivers should be able to do more than one series and there was a period of time in the past when drivers were able to do multiple series, so I think it is pretty cool that he is able to do it. I hope that Jenson comes back, it would be great for the sport to have Jenson back here.
"I like Jenson and I think he's still one of the best drivers. His calibre is still higher than any other driver who is able to take that spot, for sure."
Button has remained quiet on the news, bar a post on the social media website Twitter soon after the announcement.
Why do I have so many missed calls? 🤔
— Jenson Button (@JensonButton) April 12, 2017
Hamilton added that he would like to test a Moto GP bike and race at NASCAR's Daytona 500 in the future, but not at the expense of an F1 race.
"I don't want to miss out on any of the races in F1. I definitely want to continue do all the races. But I'd like to do Moto GP and drive a Moto GP bike. Is there another race? Probably a NASCAR race like the Daytona 500 maybe."