Button says McLaren still represents Hamilton's best chance of future success

That is the view of his current team-mate Jenson Button, who believes that Hamilton would be better off staying at McLaren rather than believing he has a better chance of success elsewhere.

Hamilton's future has become a major talking point this season, with the Briton stating recently that he hoped to sort out his future plans over the summer break with his current McLaren contract coming to an end later this year.

And although his options are narrowing, with Mark Webber's new Red Bull contract ending any hopes he had of a switch to the reigning constructors' champion, other leading seats - including at Mercedes and Lotus - are not yet officially tied up.

Speaking ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix, Button said that he would be keen for Hamilton to remain on board - and reckons such a situation would be in the best interests of both of them.

When asked if he wanted Hamilton to stay, Button said: "Yes. It is pretty simple. You want to do a better job than your team-mate over a race weekend, that is what we all want to do, but you have got to have a competitive team-mate as well. That is the way the sport is, and when you are at a top team you are always going to have a very competitive team-mate.

"Lewis is the one of who has got the option of moving or not - although I heard Ron [Dennis] say some interesting comments this week - but this place is like home to Lewis.

"He has been here since the start of his career and it is a massive change to go somewhere else. I have done it a couple of times. Sometimes it is good for you to make that change, and it is up to Lewis, but from my point of view, it doesn't seem like it would be the right thing to do."

Button suggests that Hamilton is the fastest team-mate that he has had his career - and that he has enjoyed their working relationships.

"He is definitely the quickest team-mate I have had," he explained. "I have raced some pretty good team-mates. I have raced with two world champions now, but they are quite different in their demeanour and the way they work with the team, but I think the last three years have been great.

"It is good to have good competition. The days you get beaten by your team-mate, you have to say congratulations because it was a great job - but the days you do beat your team-mate when he is that competitive, it does give you an extra smile after the race and that extra good feeling. So it is important to have a competitive team-mate."