Button changes story over Turkey 'target lap time'
Jenson Button has changed his story since controversially overtaking his teammate Lewis Hamilton during the recent Turkish Grand Prix. Hamilton was unhappy after the Istanbul race because while under instructions to stick to a minimum lap time ...
Jenson Button has changed his story since controversially overtaking his teammate Lewis Hamilton during the recent Turkish Grand Prix.
Hamilton was unhappy after the Istanbul race because while under instructions to stick to a minimum lap time whilst conserving fuel, the sister McLaren passed him for the lead.
Button, 30, clearly stated after the race that while also conserving fuel, his engineers "didn't put a lap time on it. They just said you have got to save a bit of fuel".
After hearing those comments, Daily Telegraph correspondent Tom Cary wrote: "So is Button telling the truth or is he trying to dig himself out of a conflict with Hamilton by claiming the directions from the team were a bit vague?"
In Canada on Thursday, the Briton's story had changed.
"I was told to save fuel and I was given a (target) lap time, and that was 1m31s," Button told reporters in Montreal.
Hamilton had already confirmed after Turkey that his target lap time was 1m31s.
Button explained that he only passed Hamilton because the sister MP4-25 recorded a 1m33s "so he was 2 seconds off the lap time we were given".
Share Or Save This Story
The season is still very long - Rosberg
Jules Bianchi's father speaks of family's continued hopes
Sauber under no illusions about constructors' position
Fred Vasseur owns up to Ferrari’s “very poor” execution in Hungarian GP
Lewis Hamilton penalty sparks fan debate after F1 Hungarian GP
Why Charles Leclerc’s battle of the brakes has left him trailing Lewis Hamilton
Lando Norris: ‘I was better than Piastri in every sense’ in battle for victory
Who slept best last night: Andrea Stella
Why becoming a world champion for the first time has its own pressures
George Russell sends defiant message after challenging F1 season start
New Nurburgring bombshell as ADAC Nordrhein launches NLS rival Nordschleife series
"Monumental" Red Bull Ford Powertrains project has exceeded expectations, says Calum Nicholas
Winners and losers from a strategy-dominated Brickyard 400
Where to next after the Bahraysian Grand Prix?
How Lando Norris shrugged off his first-lap error to deliver on McLaren's Hungarian GP pace
When plucky private entrants could afford to go GP racing, and how F1 changed with the rise of commercialisation
What we learned from Friday practice at the 2026 F1 Hungarian GP
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments