‘It would be boring if we all let Lewis past’

Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg, left, of Germany and Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton, right, of Britain

As Hamilton battled his way up from 20th on the grid at Hockenheim to third place behind Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg, the 29-year-old was involved in three separate minor collisions.

The last of those saw him attempt a pass at the hairpin on his former McLaren team-mate, only for Button to run over the left-wing endplate of Hamilton’s car.

When Hamilton eventually passed Button on the following lap, he held up his right hand, by way of an apology it seemed, later claiming he felt the 34-year-old was letting him through.

Hamilton said: “I had a little bit of a collision with Jenson.

“I honestly thought he was opening the door to let me past.

“He’s been a bit like that in the past, for example, so my bad judgment there.”

Button was left surprised by Hamilton’s remarks as he said: “Why would we let anyone through?

“I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but a lot of drivers do that line to get a good exit from the corner.

“I think the problem with Lewis is he expected me to let him past, but I don’t think I’m the only person he drove into.

“It’s strange, but when the car’s so much quicker you’d think he wouldn’t get into so many fights, but there you go.

“He drove into my rear wheel, that’s all I’ve got to say and I don’t know much else about it.

“I’m out there doing my race. It would make it boring if we all let him past when he was coming through the field.”

Hamilton had been hit with a five-place grid penalty ahead of the race.

The 2008 world champion crashed into a tyre barrier with a 30g impact during the initial qualifying session at Hockenheim following a right-front brake disc failure, severely damaging his Mercedes.

Following an overnight assessment, the team were forced to change the gearbox on Hamilton’s car, resulting in the grid drop from 15th to 20th.

It is certain Mercedes will switch to a different brand of brakes, as was suggested by motorsport boss Toto Wolff following a session in which Hamilton’s team-mate and title rival Rosberg qualified on pole.

It was the second severe failure from brake manufacturer Brembo this season, leading Wolff to claim Hamilton would likely move to the team’s other supplier, Carbon Industrie.