Jenson Button has opened up on his relationship with former McLaren team-mate Lewis Hamilton, with the 2009 champion describing it as "a bit weird" at times.
Button teamed up with Hamilton at McLaren when he left Brawn GP – which had just been taken over by Mercedes – for the 2010 season and they spent three years together before Hamilton left and partnered Nico Rosberg at Mercedes.
Button insists their relationship never turned sour, but there were moments when it became heated, particuarly in Turkey, 2010, when Hamilton thought Button had gone against team orders to steal a victory.
"Lewis was very friendly and welcoming, and presumably confident enough in his status at the team that he didn’t need to feel put out – at first, anyway," Button wrote in his new autobiography, Life to the Limit, a preview of which has been published by the Telegraph.
"Midway through that first season, I was ahead of Lewis in the points. Did he like being beaten by his team-mate? Probably not, but he’s a competitor and I’m sure that like me he relished the challenge. That’s why we do what we do.
"Personally, he was fine with me, but you could just tell he was a little bit peeved. I don’t think that I was to his taste, if I’m honest. And things took a bit of a turn for the worse in Turkey, when we almost had a collision that led to a minor falling-out between us."
That however was quickly resolved, but Button says Hamilton remained "weird" off-track, with it clear their differing personalities would mean they would never be 'best buddies' outside of the sport.
"As time went by, we remained friendly, though we were never best buddies," added Button.
"Later in the season, it was officially announced, that Lewis was leaving to partner Nico Rosberg at Mercedes. That was a shame for me; I’d enjoyed our rivalry. Off the track, however, he was still being a bit weird."
