After spending a multitude of laps behind Massa, the British driver made one final attempt to pass the Ferrari-an, but cut a chicane in the process. Before the stewards had reached a decision on the incident, Massa was called to the pits, therefore enforcing a drivethrough penalty for Button.
Criticized intensively by both Button and McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh, Massa reacted promptly, saying that he only defended his position in the race. And as to claims that Ferrari have deliberately called him to the pits in order to mess with Button's track position, the Brazilian insisted the wrongdoing was so obvious that an experienced driver such as Button shouldn't have waited for his team to tell him what to do.
“I expected him to give back the position after he got by,” said the Ferrari-an. “The rules are clear [that] you must do this if you cut a chicane, and Jenson is experienced enough to know that without having to wait for the team to tell him what to do.”
“After he got by, Alonso also got past me as I ended up being quite slow because of the fight with Jenson. Given that Fernando pitted before me, that left Jenson with another chance to give me back the position, but he did not.”
In the end, Button nurtured his tires better in the remaining part of the race and eventually finished the race ahead of Massa, but still 3 positions outside the podium, in 6th place.
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