LONDON, June 12 - McLaren believe Briton Lewis Hamilton could be a Formula One winner before compatriot Jenson Button.

Honda's Button, in his seventh season but still without a win after 108 starts, suffered a nightmare in Sunday's British Grand Prix and retired after 10 laps.

McLaren-backed Hamilton, 21, won both races in the GP2 support series and was feted as the rising star of British motor racing who will surely become the first black Formula One driver next year.

McLaren chief executive Martin Whitmarsh let his guard slip when asked by reporters on Sunday afternoon whether he thought Hamilton could win before Button.

"I would think he could," he replied. "He has the capability.

"I don't want to be hard on Jenson," he added hastily. "I think Jenson is a very talented, quick driver but Jenson has committed his future to Honda and therefore I'm not going to wish him a victory at the moment, am I?

"I'm going to wish victories on those who are in our stable."

McLaren boss Ron Dennis has backed Hamilton for 11 years and has said that he expects the driver to be in Formula One next year, although which team has yet to be decided.

There is mounting speculation that McLaren could bring him in as a team mate to world champion Fernando Alonso, who has already signed from Renault and who dominated Sunday's race for his third win in a row and fifth in eight starts.

Whitmarsh noted how the Silverstone crowd responded to Hamilton after the Sunday morning GP2 race.

"It was phenomenal, wasn't it?," he said. "They really now sense they've got a champion in the making, which is good for all of us."

Monday's British newspapers sensed that Button's appeal was waning and Hamilton's growing by the day.

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