McLaren duo Hamilton and Button ready for fair fight

Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button may be friends and team-mates, but both are close rivals for the F1 world championship and each has his own goals as he enters the run-in to the end of the season.

Yet, while Red Bull’s oft-warring pairing of impetuous German Sebastian Vettel and Australian Mark Webber scrap for any advantage between them in their own battle for the title, the McLaren pair appear to have no tensions.

Hamilton, the current leader by just three points ahead of Webber, has made clear he has no problem in McLaren giving equal and identical support and machinery to his team-mate.

His only concern, he said, is that he can focus on his job and set out to complete a personal collection of four classic Formula One wins by adding the Italian Grand Prix to his victories achieved already at Monaco, Silverstone and Spa.

And while he has been doing that his team-mate has maintained his own faith in his ability to overhaul everyone by making up a 35-point deficit to retain his crown.

By contrast, the Red Bull drivers have kept a low profile lately following Vettel’s bizarre crash-hit race in Belgium where the superior Webber took second place behind Hamilton.

Hamilton has made life easy for himself by taking the whole thing race by race and working on his own targets and goals.

He said: “I’ve always looked at those four circuits on the calendar as being a little more special than the others,” he said.

“I remember, a couple of years ago, David Coulthard saying he was proud to win those four Grands Prix for McLaren because they somehow connected him to the history of the sport.

“I know exactly what he means. It’s because those venues are unique. They’re very special. You can feel the history at those races more than anywhere else.”

Button, who was eliminated from last Sunday’s race when Vettel crashed into him, has made clear he remains a contender despite his setback.

“I was very dejected after the race and was very down, but in reality 35 points is not that much,” he said.

“If you look in the old money of last year’s points system, it equates to 14 – which is not a lot of points. It is a win and a fifth place, so it is all still to play for and, as it heats up in the last six races, there is going to be a lot more action.

“It will be about staying out of trouble and every race I go to I have to be fighting for victory.”

Button revealed that Vettel had phoned him after last Sunday’s race to apologise.

“Seb called me in the evening to apologise for the accident he caused, which was good, but it doesn’t give me my points back,” he said.

Current Standings

1. Hamilton 182 points, 2. Webber 179, 3. Vettel 151, 4. Button 147, 5. Alonso 141, 6. Massa 109, 7. Kubica 104, 8. Rosberg 102, 9. Sutil 45, 10. Schumacher 44, 11. Barrichello 30, 12. Kobayashi 21, 13. Petrov 19, 14. Liuzzi 13, 15. Hulkenberg 10, 16. Buemi 7, 17. De la Rosa 6, 18. Alguersuari 3.