Lewis Hamilton says he has no plans to help Jenson Button as Formula One ends a four-week break following Hamilton’s first win of the season in Hungary. Hamilton’s fortunes changed in Budapest but Button is now anxious to prevent his championship lead being eroded further during Sunday’s European grand prix.
“I don’t have any plans to help Jenson; I’m not looking to do that,” said Hamilton. “I’m here to win races for McLaren-Mercedes and be as successful as we can be. If that happens to help Jenson win the championship then it would be fantastic for me and all the British fans. I really hope he does it, but he’s not my team-mate. We’re not here to help him win races.”
“The thing now for us, after such a bad start to the season, is for people to see that we still have it as reigning world champions. If we had been in this position, ready to win races a while back, then the outcome of this championship might have been a bit different.”
The late revival by McLaren is a double-edged sword for Button. If Hamilton wins this 11th round of the championship, it will stop Button’s main rivals, the Red Bull drivers, from scoring maximum points. On the other hand, if Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel finish first and second and the McLarens of Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen come between the Red Bulls and Button, then the Englishman’s 18.5-point lead will be drastically reduced with six races remaining. Guardian.co.uk
With reigning champion Hamilton now in the hunt for more wins, it is likely to be harder for Australia’s Webber to make substantial gains on Button in each of the remaining seven rounds.
Button needs to respond to the growing challenge from Webber by ending a run of three disappointing performances with a return to the podium.
Despite the setbacks Button remains positive. He said: ” I think we have just maybe gone slightly in the wrong direction. But we will pick up our pace, for sure. We need to be on the podium as often as possible. But it is very, very competitive now.
“You haven’t just got the Red Bulls who are strong. You have got the McLarens, the Ferraris, the Renaults and even the Williams have been competitive. We need to get back on top of it. I have got that 18.5 point lead, but that could disappear very quickly.” This is London
| 
|