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AFTER the former McLaren team-mates Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton came together at the Hockenheimring on Sunday, in a race-changing clash, Button questioned Hamilton’s tactics and suggested that the Mercedes driver was taking elements of his racing for granted because he was in a quicker car. “I think the problem with Lewis is he expected me to let him past,” said Button.

While the 34-year-old later tweeted to say that “after watching the race back think I overreacted with my feelings about Lewis’s move. I can understand why he thought I was giving him room,” he was clearly annoyed immediately after Hamilton had moved up the inside of him on lap 30 at the Turn Six hairpin. The Mercedes driver was coming from behind and, as he attempted to go through, he took a glancing blow from Button’s car that damaged his front-left end-plate, resulting in a lack of downforce that would cost him second place.

He passed Button a lap later with ease using the drag reduction system but by then the damage had been done.

Immediately after the race Hamilton had said he believed it had been an innocent racing incident and that he had made a poor call. “I honestly thought he was opening the door to let me past,” he said. “He’s been a bit like that in the past race, for example, so my bad on judgment there.”

But with further reflection he was less sympathetic to Button’s positioning through the turn. “With Jenson I was really surprised because he has been a real gentleman and really respectful and he has been great in previous races.” Hamilton said. “He knows I’m much quicker, so rather than waste time battling with me, he can see me coming and he gives me space and doesn’t close the door.

“At the time I was battling (Daniel) Ricciardo, so I was quite far behind and I knew I was not close enough to dart up the inside and then he started going wide, so I thought: ‘Oh, he’s opened the door for me to let me go.’ But then he started turning and coming back through and I really thought it was over for me then.”

Hamilton escaped with only minor damage and made it to third at the finish but Button, who moved up from 11th on the grid to finish eighth, expressed puzzlement as to why Hamilton would expect anyone to simply move aside.

“Why would we let anyone through?” he said. “A lot of drivers do that line to get a good exit  from the corner,” referring to a wider entry that gives a better exit on to the short straight into Turn Seven.

“I think the problem with Lewis is he expected me to let him past,” Button added. “I don’t think I’m the only person he drove into today. It’s strange, when the car’s so  much quicker, you’d think he wouldn’t get into so (many) fights, but there you go. He drove into my rear wheel.”

Button, struggling with an uncompetitive McLaren this season, is used to the cut and thrust of racing in the midfield and clearly did not feel the need to make exceptions for his former team-mate. “I’m out there doing my race” he said. “It would make it boring if we all let him past when he was coming through the field.”

The Mercedes head of motor sport, Toto Wolff, preferred to refer to it as a misunderstanding but pointed out that it caused damage that was crucial to Hamilton’s race. “The misunderstanding with Jenson cost him quite some lap time,” he said. “We’re quite down on downforce on the front wing. The car would have had much more performance with the wing not being an issue.” — The Guardian