Asked why he had not simply called Button
first to check whether the story was true, Hamilton said: “Hindsight is a
lovely thing. I tried as hard as I could to get hold of Jenson [after the
incident] but I think he had a night out so I couldn’t get hold of him. So I
sent a message, he replied and accepted it. The first thing I did here was
to go and apologise. Now my focus is on the weekend.”
Hamilton denied that he and Button were now enemies or that the incident
would have any effect on the final five-race run-in. “Not at all,” Hamilton
said. “I am aware that people are now trying to say there is a rift between
Jenson and me. I just said to him, although it is probably hard to believe
after this week, that I have always respected him.
“I knew him and his dad in ’95, I won the British championship with his dad’s
engines so I have got a huge amount of respect for him and what he has done
in the sport. We have had a fantastic relationship all these years.
Sometimes in the heat of the moment you just say things you shouldn’t say or
that you don’t mean.”
Button, speaking later, would only say that the situation had been “dealt
with”, declining to comment further. But the 2009 world champion is
understood to have been dismayed by Hamilton’s indiscretion. Asked if it
would have any impact on things moving forward, the 32 year-old agreed with
Hamilton that it would make no difference. “I have no issue with it. He’s
entitled to his opinion. That’s it,” was his curt observation.
Meanwhile, Monisha Kaltenborn has become the first female team principal in
Formula One, taking over at Sauber. Kalternborn is also part-owner of the
team.