Button Remembers Heated 'Ding Dong' With Hamilton After Team Orders At McLaren

Thursday, 17 October 2024 at 20:00

Former F1 driver Jenson Button recalled a heated argument that he had with Lewis Hamilton after the 2010 Turkish Grand Prix.

During a recent Q&A session for Sky Sports, former F1 driver Jenson Button answered questions from F1 fans. In answering one of these, the 2009 Champion suggested that McLaren has to apply for team orders if Lando Norris is to have any chance of winning the Drivers' title.

On the one hand, Button believes that having two teammates fight against each other is good for the viewers. On the other hand, he doesn't think Norris could close the 52-point gap to Max Verstappen without Oscar Piastri's help.

Team orders are always a pretty controversial topic, and although Jenson Button hasn't found himself in many situations in his F1 career where he would be ordered to help his teammate, he did remember one instance from 2010.

Lewis Hamilton and Button spent three seasons as teammates at McLaren in 2010-2012, but this moment came during the Turkish Grand Prix in their first season together. The 44-year-old said:

"The only time that I had team orders that I can remember in my career was in 2010 Turkey. Lewis was told that I wasn't going to fight him because he had to save fuel."

"I wasn't told that information, so I overtook him, he overtook me again, and then the team came on the radio and said, 'Jenson, hold position.'"

"After the race, we had a bit of a ding dong, because Lewis thought I was told to not overtake but I wasn’t, so miscommunication."

The 2010 Turkish Grand Prix was also the race in which Red Bull Racing drivers Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber collided, putting each other out of contention for the victory.

Ultimately, McLaren went on to win the Grand Prix, scoring a one-two result with Hamilton on the top of the podium and Button in P2.