JENSON BUTTON feels he and Lewis Hamilton are proof team-mates can have a healthy relationship at the circuit and still fight for the world title.
The issue of intra-team harmony was brought into sharp focus in the run up to yesterday’s British Grand Prix and throughout the course of what proved to be a dramatic weekend.
Despite question marks raised about the health of Button’s working status with Hamilton at McLaren, it was instead the bitterness that exists between their rivals at Red Bull, Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel, that hit the headlines.
Webber’s unhappiness at what he perceived was favouritism towards Vettel ahead of qualifying on Saturday culminated in a magnificent British Grand Prix victory.
But his pointed remarks about being a number two driver, and stating that he would never have re-signed for the team given the circumstances, only served to highlight his growing antipathy.
As for Button and Hamilton, who finished second and fourth on home soil, they will keep doing what they have been doing, no matter how much people try to rake up dirt.
“I think everyone’s been taking the mick out of us that we get on well as team-mates and as a team, but it’s what works for us,” said Button.
“I’ve just got to sort myself out a little bit in qualifying and make sure I’m in a good place at the start of the race so that I can fight it out at the front.
“In that situation Lewis and I, if we both qualify well, will be fighting wheel to wheel, and we will fight as hard as anyone, but we still work together well.”
