“I feel a bit harshly treated,” he told the media, according to a report from the GMM news agency. “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.”
“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.”
Button had planned a 2-pitstop strategy in Melbourne but, due to the unexpected 3rd running down the pitlane, dropped several positions down the pack, eventually finishing in 6th place. Hadn't it been for the penalty, the Brit could have probably battled for a podium spot on Sunday, which could have made McLaren the winners of the season opening round.
Talking about the incident after the race, Button told reporters that he suspected Ferrari had called Massa to the pits on purpose shortly after the pass, in order to enforce a drivethrough penalty for the McLaren driver. Otherwise, the British driver would have only had to give the position back to the Brazilian in the race.
“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.”
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