Irvine: Button ‘will get murdered’ by Hamilton in 2010

Consensus seems to be that Button won't be able to challenge Hamilton

Jenson Button's decision to jump ship from the safe and familiar surroundings in which he swept to F1 World Championship glory in 2009 to join compatriot and title-winning predecessor Lewis Hamilton at McLaren-Mercedes this year is one he will come to regret, reckons Michael Schumacher's former team-mate Eddie Irvine.

“Jenson has entered the lion's den," mused the Irishman – who triumphed in four grands prix himself for Ferrari in 1999 – speaking to ESPN. “It was madness of him to move. He thinks he's going to be able to eat his steak, and that's not going to be the case – I think he's going to get murdered!

“It's the worst decision he could have made. The only reason I can think of is that he didn't want to stay at Brawn with Rosberg, who's not as highly-rated as Lewis but might be just as quick. Jenson may have thought that it's better to get beaten by Lewis than get beaten by Nico.

“Rubens Barrichello is a good little peddler and murdered Jenson in the second half of last season. Michael [Schumacher] never got murdered by anyone. Lewis came into his first year in F1 and beat a double world champion in Fernando Alonso – that's a class act. If you look at Jenson's career, Ralf Schumacher beat him, Giancarlo Fisichella beat him and Rubens beat him. There are too many races where he hasn't performed, to say he's at the level of any of those guys."