"I don’t want to be asked about Lewis Hamilton, it’s doing my head in": When Jenson Button got irritated about being questioned about his teammate

Former F1 world champion Jenson Button previously shut down a question about his ex-McLaren teammate Lewis Hamilton during the 2011 Indian Grand Prix. The two British drivers were teammates for three years in the sport from 2010 to 2012 and were extremely competitive against each other on the track, as they fought for race wins and championships.

Although Hamilton got the better of the 2009 world champion during two of the three years, Button was the stronger driver in 2011 and finished second in the driver standings. As a pair, they also helped the Woking-based outfit to finish P2 in the Constructors' championship in 2010 and 2011.

Despite being close competitors, the duo shared a cordial and professional off-track dynamic. However, during the 2011 Indian Grand Prix post-race press conference, Jenson Button was asked about his teammate Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa's collision in the race, to which he replied:

“I don’t give a f***. If you want to do an interview with me, about me, that's fine, but I don't want to be asked about Lewis again. It's doing my head in."

Lewis Hamilton had started the race from P2 but slipped back while Jenson Button rose in the race and finished behind the eventual winner Sebastian Vettel.

Jenson Button gave his thoughts on Lewis Hamilton's antics

F1 Grand Prix of USA - Practice - Source: Getty

Former McLaren driver Jenson Button stated that Lewis Hamilton's decision to reveal the team's telemetry on social media was not personal towards him but directed at the team.

In an exclusive extract from his new book 'Life to the Limit', which appeared in The Daily Telegraph, the Brit reflected on the incident and said:

"Quite what was in his thinking, I couldn't say. Certainly, any displeasure he was showing was aimed at the team, not me, but I ended up being collateral damage because you don't make telemetry public. You just don't. The screen grab showed the kind of things you work hard to keep hidden from your rivals. I made my feelings known about that."

"But at the same time, I knew it wasn't personal. Bit dumb, maybe. But not an 'I hate Jenson' thing so much as an 'I'm fed up with McLaren' thing."

Lewis Hamilton was unimpressed by the team's decision to run different rear wings compared to Jenson Button in Spa 2012, who went on to win the race while the former retired on Lap 1 owing to a massive crash caused by Romain Grosjean.