2009 Formula 1 World Champion Jenson Button has suggested that Lewis Hamilton will be staying in the sport for the 2022 campaign as he will want to once again try and become the first eight-time title holder the sport has ever seen.

There has been radio silence from Hamilton since the end of the 2021 season with him dramatically denied the championship on the final lap, in a sequence of events that has now become infamous, in Abu Dhabi.

Indeed, we're still waiting to see what the FIA is going to do in terms of findings and actions with their investigation into those closing stages underway, and speculation has been rife over the future of Hamilton and whether he'll leave the sport or not.

Most are suggesting that he will be sticking around, though, with him in possession of a Mercedes contract that runs until the end of 2023 currently.

And, whilst no-one knows for sure what the Briton is planning, former driver Jenson Button seems to be of a similar mind in predicting that Lewis will be back behind the wheel in 2022, challenging for that record-breaking eighth world championship once again.

Speaking to Good Morning Britain on Wednesday morning, the 2009 winner said:

As Button mentions, he was actually the last person to conduct an interview with Hamilton with him leading the post-race interviews just after the chequered flag in Abu Dhabi.

Lewis cut a pretty stoic figure at the time, too, with him congratulating Red Bull and Max Verstappen and also thanking his Mercedes team for their efforts, which was impressive given what had just happened to him minutes prior.

He did say, though, that 'we'll see about next year' and that sparked some to believe he was already weighing up his future in the sport, though others might suggest that he was more thinking about seeing what he and the Silver Arrows could do in the championship fight for the new campaign.

Either way, speculation remains over the 7-time champion's future as we head towards February, with him expected to be at the Mercedes 2022 car launch in the middle of the month.

That, then, could be the first indicator of his feelings towards next season.