Former Ferrari driver Eddie Irvine thinks Button’s move to McLaren to race alongside Lewis Hamilton is “madness”.

Irvine, who has raced for Jordan, Jaguar and Ferrari, knows only too well what’s it’s like being pitted against a tough team-mate, as he spent the ’96 to ’99 alongside Michael Schumacher and openly admitted the German was way faster than him – and faster than anyone.

On Button, the outspoken Irishman said:

“Jenson has entered the lion’s den. 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 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.”

My thoughts: Irvine’s comments sum up a general feeling that Button has seriously got his work cut out from him to get on a par with Hamilton at McLaren. But, after winning the World Championship, confidence will be high in the Button camp, and a lot will depend how quickly Button settles in at McLaren and gets to grips with the car. If Lewis gets off to a flyer, I don’t think Jenson will be able to catch him, but if Lewis has a bit of bad luck and has a few DNFs, the pressure could be on him. My money’s still on the ’08 champ though, and not on the ’09 one.