Button Tells Hamilton to Button Up

Jenson Button has hit back at former McLaren team-mate Lewis Hamilton's comments on the team.

(c) Sky Sports F1

Button, who is currently racing in his fourth season for the team, replied to the comments from Hamilton saying the team environment was “controlled” and that he had very little freedom during his time there.

It is strange that Hamilton has spoke out about the team after being with them for such a long time, since he was 13 years old. The Brit was put on the Woking based squad’s young driver programme and was steered up through the ranks with their help.

He won the world title with the team in 2008, just a season after he made his debut in Australia. Hamilton had a stream of success during his six year stint with the team but now, after moving to Mercedes, he has felt like he needed to speak out.

He said recently “I have come from a place with a lot of control, a really controlled environment where you are restricted to do and say what you are told.”

However Button disagrees, responding to his comments. He revealed “the freedom you have in this team is phenomenal, and that doesn’t just go for me,”

He continued “In this team you have to work, probably harder than you would at other teams, at sponsor requests and what have you.”

This is all true, and was one of the reasons why Hamilton wanted to make the move to Mercedes. With the rise of advertising and social media drivers have to do more and more work for their sponsors and partners of the team.

He then added “this is an F1 team that is not a mass-production manufacturer. For a team like McLaren you need big sponsors to exist in this sport.”

Button then mentioned his former team Honda, who are a mass-production manufacturer. He said “I’ve nothing against my previous team because I love working with them – with all the name changes we had.”

The contrasting descriptions create a rather confusing description of the McLaren team.