Jenson Button says he was "surprised and disappointed" Lewis Hamilton tweeted confidential telemetry data after qualifying for the Belgium GP.
McLaren driver unhappy with team-mate's post-qualifying tweet
Jenson Button says he was "surprised and disappointed" team-mate Lewis Hamilton tweeted confidential telemetry data after qualifying for the Belgium Grand Prix.
The 2008 World Champion posted a picture on the social media site displaying information of the quickest laps of both McLaren drivers, including their contrasting downforce levels and the ride-height of both cars, on Saturday evening.
The information revealed has been described as 'gold dust' in some quarters, with team boss
Martin Whitmarsh acknowledging to
Sky Sports that the tweet had been "not well judged" and "embarrassing".
And now Button, despite winning Sunday's race, has admitted that he was unhappy with Hamilton's error of judgement.
"We work so hard to improve the car and keep things like that secret and private," the 2009 World Champion said.
"I didn't want to see it on Twitter. It was the whole telemetry from qualifying. It wasn't just the rear wing. I was very surprised and disappointed.
"The bit about the time on the straights isn't the bit that's important to me. He should be gaining it back in the corners because he's got more downforce on anyway. And I was eight tenths quicker in qualifying anyway."
Button added that he did not intend to speak to Hamilton about the issue: "I think it's done now. I don't think it's for me to be angry with Lewis. It's not a personal thing."
Writing in his
column for this website, Sky Sports F1 pundit Martin Brundle could offer no explanation for Hamilton's behaviour.
"I can't work Lewis out, his apparent demeanour swings around so much. In Hungary he appeared supremely happy, content and approachable. And unbeatable. In Spa he was not.
"I don't know if his mood determines his performance, or vice versa. He clearly wants to poke the team at the moment and I suspect he was pretty successful in doing that. Normally he is waxing lyrical about them at every opportunity and until he finds an even keel and a settled environment he will not deliver his enormous potential. He is one of the greatest and most natural talents of all time, I hope he makes the most of it."
