Fernando Alonso is the favourite to win the Formula One world championship in Abu Dhabi on Sunday, but if he does so by fewer than seven points it will be a tainted title, according to outgoing champion Jenson Button.
Button was referring to the seven points the Spaniard gained in Germany in July, when coded instructions were given to Felipe Massa to move over for his teammate. Ferrari were fined £65 000 for the incident but, surprisingly, no further action was taken.
Button, who, apart from losing his title and almost being the victim of an attempted hold-up, had quite a pleasing weekend, with his fifth-place finish at Interlagos in Brazil, said: “Some will be disappointed with what happened at Hockenheim and question whether he [Alonso] deserves it.
“I just hope he wins it by more than seven points. I don’t know who will win. It’s very close. It’s between Mark [Webber] and Fernando. Fernando is an exceptional driver, but I wouldn’t pick any of them. Whoever wins it, deserves it.”
Lewis Hamilton, meanwhile, who retains the slimmest of chances of taking the title, said he wanted Webber to win the championship. “I’d like to see Mark do it,” the 2008 winner said. “He’s done a great job this year. He has been told by his team what position [No 2] he is and against adversity he has kept at it. I think he’s done an awesome job. I’m quite impressed. He’s done pretty much everything right this year — apart from our little tangle.”
Hamilton, fourth in the drivers’ championship table, was referring to Webber crashing into him during the Australian Grand Prix in March. He warned that on Sunday he would not be showing any respect for the three men ahead of him — Alonso, Webber or Sebastian Vettel.
‘They’ve lots more to lose than I have’
“I don’t really give a damn about any of those three,” he said. “They’ve lots more to lose than I have, so I won’t be looking out for them, letting them past or anything like that. I just have to keep a strong head on and keep pushing. I’m going to Abu Dhabi to try to win, although we don’t have the fastest car at the moment, so it’s going to be very difficult.”
Button, meanwhile, has come out in support of Red Bull’s decision not to back their main contender, Webber, at Vettel’s expense in São Paulo. “I like the way Red Bull let their drivers fight,” he said. “That’s the way it should be. You fight all the way through your career to get into Formula One, to get into a good car, to win races. If you still have a chance of winning the world championship, you should be given equal opportunities and it is good to see that they have that.”
Alonso can finish fourth in Abu Dhabi and still take the title if Vettel wins, but he needs to be second if Webber finishes first.
Vettel was very guarded about whether he would be prepared to help his Australian teammate in Sunday’s finale to the season, but he finally accepted that he might be prepared to do so. “In that scenario it is something you will think of,” he said. “I think it’s clear.”
The Red Bull team principal, Christian Horner, is also confident the German will do the decent thing. “Nobody has a crystal ball, nobody can foresee what will happen next weekend and all along we have tried to do the best to support our drivers equally,” he said.
“And, of course, if they find themselves in a situation where one, because he cannot win, needs to help the other then of course I can only imagine that they will do that. It will have to be a driver decision.” —