McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button had an equally interesting intra-team battle on the track at Istanbul Sunday and while their competitors at Red Bull showed how not to battle teammates, McLaren’s drivers proved it could be done with style and without drama.
Hamilton told Reuters that his team would never pull a stunt such as Red Bull’s disaster when teammates Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel collided spoiling what many believe was a clear 1,2 victory for the Austrian team.
“It won’t happen with me and Jenson,”
“We’re both world champions, we’re both professionals, we both have a huge amount of respect for each other.
“We want to finish the race, we do both want to win, but not in an aggressive manner,” continued the 25-year-old Briton.“When I win he is happy for me and vice versa.
“For sure, you want to be ahead, so if you finish second you’re not the happiest. However, he is a very supportive team mate and he is doing a solid job.
“We had a great battle out there and he wasn’t aggressive, he wasn’t silly, he didn’t make any stupid mistakes, and that’s why we had a good battle,” said Hamilton.
“I have no doubts the rest of the year will be the same.”
Lewis! Shut it! These are famous last words mate. Making a point at the expense of Red Bull is good mind games but be careful when saying never because you cannot say with certainty that it won’t happen and one need look no further than 2007 to see what is possible at McLaren with Hamilton and a competitive teammate.
On the other side, it’s nice to know that he feels comfortable with Jenson Button as a teammate and perhaps they will give each other room and fight professionally but they did touch wheels on Sunday and that could easily have cut a tire down and then where would you be? Would you have been angry with Button had your front left gone flat costing you to victory?
Hindsight is always 20/20 but before you dance about Red Bull’s grave, you may want to take note that you were nearly eliminated from the race as well and that nice guy Button was banging wheels with you for the win. It must be said, however, that Hamilton had a terrific race and the duel with Button was great fun to watch. They truly did battle with integrity and it was refreshing to see.
