Button warning over team orders

Jenson Button has amazingly revealed he will quit Formula One if team orders are reintroduced into the sport.

Sunday's controversy in the German Grand Prix, in which Felipe Massa was forced to give up the victory in favour of Ferrari team-mate Fernando Alonso, has blown the sport apart over recent days. F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone earlier this week played on the team element and insisted team principals should be allowed to make the decisions, but Red Bull boss Christian Horner is among those who believe the sport is far healthier if drivers are allowed to compete and race against one another.

"I wouldn't be interested in racing in F1 if, from the first race, you know there was the possibility of being a number one or number two driver. What's the point?" Button told Press Association Sport.

"You're here to win, to be the best, and you should have equal opportunity to the next guy that's driving the same car.

"He should also get every opportunity otherwise it's not a drivers' sport any more, it would be a complete and utter team sport.

"Formula One is a team sport, but when you cross the finishing line you are the person who wins the drivers' championship.

"We have the constructors' and we have the drivers', and that's the way Formula One is.

"So for me, if it wasn't down to the individual, I wouldn't be interested in racing any more.

"One of the biggest buzzes in F1 is fighting your team-mate, and for me, fighting a world champion is such a buzz.

"If I suddenly realised he didn't have the same equipment as me, or I was being favoured, then I wouldn't be happy about that because I would think we'd all been cheated."