Jenson Button refuses to help Lewis Hamilton . . . but McLaren say he will

Track issues: Lewis Hamilton leads Jenson Button yesterday and in the championship but he won’t be getting any support from his team-mate at the next race in Brazil
David Smith13 April 2012

Jenson Button is refusing to sacrifice his outside chance of retaining the Formula One world championship in order to help McLaren team-mate Lewis Hamilton win the title.

Button's shock decision not to back Hamilton, revealed today, has put him on collision course with McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh who believes Button will need "a miracle" to win the championship after he finished a distant 12th and out of the points in a rain-hit Korean Grand Prix.

With two rounds to go, in Brazil in a fortnight and Abu Dhabi a week later, Button is now 42 points behind yesterday's winner Fernando Alonso with a maximum of 50 points up for grabs.

By contrast, Hamilton's second place in Korea means he trails the Spaniard by just 21 points and is in a far better position to carry the title fight to Ferrari's pacesetter.

Whitmarsh said: "For us, the strategy is clear. We don't really have to say anything to our drivers. Jenson will offer his help to Hamilton voluntarily, because he knows that we have treated him fairly throughout the year. And because he knows that he will win now only with a miracle."

Yet Button has already ruled out riding shotgun to Hamilton. "No, I've enough points to win the championship," he said. "I have the smallest chance of winning it, I know that, but I'm going to fight until I don't have the opportunity any more, and then obviously things will change."

Button has drawn inspiration from Kimi Raikkonen's late charge in 2007 when the Finn, trailing by 17 points with two races left, pipped Hamilton to the championship by one point.

Button said: "If Kimi had sat back and walked away thinking he was not going to be world champion, then he wouldn't have been world champion.

"The way to look at it is whether I can still win the championship. As a world champion and someone who wants to fight for a world championship, you don't give up until you can't win it.

"Clearly I need people to have failures and not finish, which is very difficult because there are so many people in front of me. But mathematically it's still possible, and I won't give up until it's no longer possible."

Button blamed his poor performance in atrocious weather on his car's lack of grip.

He admitted: "I had a pretty crap day. It's laughable how bad my day was. If I think about it too much it will make me unhappy, so I really can't do anything except laugh because it was the most hysterical race.

"I didn't have any grip and was just so slow, I was pretty much the slowest person on the circuit. I was constantly locking the front tyres under braking, and along with not being fast, I was also destroying tyres.

"But I go to Brazil with a smile on my face and looking forward to the challenge, which is what we're here for."

Alonso was handed victory on a plate at the new Korea International Circuit in Mokpo after Mark Webber crashed and Red Bull team-mate Sebastian

Vettel suffered a catastrophic engine failure almost within sight of the chequered flag.

Red Bull boss Christian Horner may now throw his team's weight behind Webber's title challenge, the Australian lying second in the table 11 points adrift of Alonso while Vettel is 25 points behind.

If Vettel was to lead Webber in one-two finishes in Brazil and Abu Dhabi, Alonso would still claim a third career championship by finishing third both times. Horner said: "I haven't had time to look at all the mathematics and scenarios, but it is something that we will look at pretty closely between now and Brazil."

Alonso's victory — however lucky — was his third in fourth races and the man in form has claimed a phenomenal 133 points from a possible 175 in the last seven Grands Prix.

However, Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo is taking nothing for granted. He said: "We must keep our feet on the ground. The championship is still very open and we know we are up against very strong opponents.

"We will have to tackle the final two races with even higher levels of concentration, paying attention to every little detail."

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