Mar.28 (GMM) Martin Whitmarsh criticised FIA officials after Jenson Button served a drive-through penalty in the Australian grand prix.

The British driver took a short-cut on the inside of Albert Park's high-speed chicane on Sunday as he passed Ferrari's Felipe Massa.

"I feel a bit harshly treated," boss Whitmarsh is quoted as saying by British newspapers.

"As the incident happened we asked race control for their advice, what we should do. They explained they would come back to us and they didn't," he revealed.

"The next thing we knew it had gone to the stewards, Massa had stopped and we were unable to do anything about it. When they say 'We'll get back to you', you expect, to be honest, that they'll get back to you.

"It's frustrating and its annoying," he added.

At the same time, Button admitted to suspecting that Ferrari called Massa in for new tyres immediately after the incident so that he would not be able to simply let the Brazilian back into position.

"I don't know if Ferrari pitted Massa on purpose so I would get a drive-through, fair enough if they did. That's the way it is," he said.

"Maybe it was done on purpose, maybe not. I just don't know why he was so slow. It screwed both of us," added Button.

Overall, however, Whitmarsh admitted he was happy with the pace of the MP4-26 in Australia, with Lewis Hamilton finishing second after a dire winter season.

"Two weeks ago I would have snatched your hand off for that result," he said.

Latest F1 News - Mobile version

26 Feb: New Ferrari not quickest in field - Domenicali 26 Feb: Red Bull still best in 2013 - Tost 26 Feb: 2014 French grand prix 'possible' - Prost 26 Feb: Danica Patrick 'not interested' in F1 switch 26 Feb: Report - Gilles Simon working on F1 engine for Honda 26 Feb: Gutierrez plays down link to Carlos Slim 26 Feb: Caterham exhaust 'legal' insists van der Garde 26 Feb: McLaren replaces Mercedes-bound Lowe 25 Feb: 'Engine maps' trouble for Red Bull, Lotus - report 25 Feb: Mercedes-bound Lowe to miss 2013 opener - report 25 Feb: Mercedes 'in group of teams' behind Red Bull - Lauda 25 Feb: Gutierrez expects Hulkenberg to beat him early in 2013 25 Feb: New Ferrari 'much better' than 2012 - Massa 25 Feb: Teams 'will adapt' to new tyre situation - Gutierrez 25 Feb: Tight rules make today's F1 cars 'the same' - Forghieri 25 Feb: Williams removes controversial exhaust trick 25 Feb: Contract 'conflicts' cause of Marussia test snub - Razia 25 Feb: Lotus to fight Red Bull for title - Gutierrez 25 Feb: Marussia 'ahead of Caterham' - Chilton 25 Feb: Sutil will not stay in F1 as test driver The latest F1 News - Mobile Version