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F1: Button Defends McLaren From Hamilton Criticism
Jenson Button says the demands placed on McLaren drivers are significant but not unreasonable...
Adam Cooper  | http://www.speedtv.com  |  Posted March 15, 2013   Melbourne (AUS)
Jenson Button says McLaren is a friendly team. (Photo: Getty Images)
Jenson Button has defended McLaren after Lewis Hamilton claimed that his freedom was restricted during his years with the team.

Hamilton has been keen to point out that he now has far fewer sponsor commitments than he had at his previous team.

“In this team you have to work, probably harder than you would in other teams, in terms of sponsor requests and what have you,” said Button. “This is an F1 team that is not a mass production manufacturer. You need big sponsors to exist in this sport for a team like McLaren, and you need to understand that.”

Button admitted that the workload was heavier than he expected: “Initially when I came to this team, it was a shock, after winning the World Championship with Brawn – I did six sponsor events throughout that year! You come here and it’s so much busier. This year it’s like, ‘Wow, really?’ You learn to understand and you learn to adapt, you realize that is part of this job, and you need that to succeed.

“It’s not just about working with the sponsor; you have to make sure you do a great job for the sponsor, because you want them to work with you for a long time, you want move forward with them. I understand from that point of view that it’s very busy here, your time is restricted, because you’re flying around, you’re traveling more, you’re doing more sponsor events.”

“In terms of what you can do as a driver, and the way a driver can help the development of a car in this team, it’s amazing. I feel that you have so much freedom and so much help if you need it.

“Whatever your issues are, you get help here. I’ve heard so many rumors and read so much from the media about the way this team is, and it’s so far from the truth. Maybe people within the team are too afraid to say so, but it’s so much not like that. It’s a friendly team and a team that will do anything to help you if you have any issues in any way.”

Adam Cooper notched up his 28th season as a racing journalist in 2012. He has written about F1 for SPEED.com since 2005. Follow him on Twitter.
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