Former Red Bull driver Mark Webber has queried the mindset of Jenson Button, as the Briton prepares to participate in the Monaco Grand Prix.
The 2009 world champion retired from Formula 1 at the end of last year but remained in an ambassadorial role with McLaren which included being the defacto third driver.
Therefore, when Fernando Alonso announced he would be racing at the Indy 500, Button was the first man on the list to step into his seat.
However, with the streets of Monte Carlo set to be a very different challenge with the 2017 cars, the Australian suggested the decision not to drive the car until Thursday practice was an underestimation of what lies ahead.
“When I heard that (Button) wouldn’t do the Bahrain test, I wondered if he was taking it seriously enough,” Webber told Austria’s Speed Week. “For me, if he’s doing a triathlon in America rather than a test in Bahrain, I think first practice in Monaco will be a wake-up call for him.
“I just get the impression that he doesn’t really care about it.”
The former WEC world champion went further, claiming the current issues facing the Woking-based team and their engine partner means the return of Button is merely an afterthought.
“It’s a non-story,” he said. “He’ll drive, have problems with the fuel system, qualify 16th, retire after 12 laps or whatever. What’s the point? Jenson is a world champion. He has won at Monaco. It would be a story if he could fight for the win, but to get a point if he’s lucky, that really doesn’t interest anyone.”
Prior to the comments by the always outspoken Webber, Button described his one-off drive in Monaco as a “dream”, adding initial work on the simulator had gone well.
“You jump into the simulator and after five laps there’s that ‘OK, I’ve still got it then’,” he was quoted by ESPN.
“I can still direct the car around the corners and I still know how to change gear and push the brake pedal and modulate the throttle. That never leaves you.”