‘Team Button’ clears air with ‘Team Perez’
JENSON Button could be thankful at least that McLaren allowed their drivers to race each other in Sunday’s Bahrain Grand Prix, even as he accused team-mate Sergio Perez of dangerous and dirty driving.
The 2009 world champion looked for positives after he and his Mexican team-mate cleared the air at a hastily arranged meeting with McLaren management after Sunday’s race, in which Perez finished sixth and Button 10th.
“We have sat down and discussed it and hopefully we have all learnt from the race… it could have all ended in a very different way for both of us,” Button told reporters.
“It’s great that we don’t have team orders and are allowed to fight.
“I think he will learn,” Button said of Perez.
“I think it’s good being in a team like this that will be very open with comments and say what they think to the drivers, face-to-face. We’ve all done that, so that’s important.”
Perez and Button raced nose-to-tail and wheel-to-wheel, with the Mexican bumping the rear of the Briton’s car in one heartstopping moment for the McLaren pit wall, as he tried to find a way past.
Team principal Martin Whitmarsh said he had come under considerable pressure from both sides of the garage – which he described as divided between “Team Button” and “Team Perez” – to intervene, but had refused to do so.
“Right down to the mechanics, they want their car to beat the other car. That’s how we work as a race team and it gives certain tensions in the system. But I think that’s the right way to do it.”
The memory of this year’s controversial Malaysian Grand Prix remains fresh, even if McLaren have always maintained that their drivers are free to race each other – within reason.
In Malaysia, Red Bull told world champion Sebastian Vettel to stay behind teammate Mark Webber to the chequered flag because they were worried about tyre wear.
The German ignored the order, overtook and won in an act that enraged Webber.
In the same race, Mercedes told Nico Rosberg to stay behind teammate Lewis Hamilton because they feared the cars could run out of fuel.
The German complied and missed out on a podium place, despite feeling he was faster. “I had a lot of noise in my ear from people suggesting I should stop them racing, we didn’t,” said Whitmarsh of Sunday’s incident.
“I think it was the right thing in the long term for both drivers to know they are racing each other and be competitive.”
The team boss praised the 23-year-old Perez for his fighting spirit, and the spark he had shown.
The race was won by reigning triple world champion Vettel, increasing his championship lead to 10 points over Kimi Raikkonen, who was second ahead of his Lotus team-mate, Romain Grosjean.
It was the 25-year-old German’s second win in four races this year and the 28th of his career, moving him into sixth on the alltime list of Grand Prix wins and overtaking Jackie Stewart.
Force India’s Paul di Resta was fourth and narrowly missed out on his first podium finish.
Hamilton, the 2008 champion, fought hard to finish fifth for Mercedes after a late battle with Australian Webber, who came home seventh in the second Red Bull.
Two-time champion Fernando Alonso of Spain, who lost the use of his DRS on his Ferrari, came in eighth ahead of pole-starting Rosberg in the second Mercedes.
Like many, Rosberg struggled with tyre wear.
– Reuters