• Malaysian Grand Prix

Button takes blame for Karthikeyan collision

Jenson Button dropped out of the running after stopping for a new nose cone © Getty Images

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• Race:
• Malaysian Grand Prix

• Drivers:
• Jenson Button

• Teams:
• McLaren

Jenson Buttonadmitted his costly contact with Narain Karthikeyan at the Malaysian Grand Prix was entirely his fault.

Button was running second to team-mate Lewis Hamilton when he made his first pit stop, but two laps later damaged his front wing while trying to overtake Karthikeyan's HRT for position. The resulting front wing change dropped him to 20th position where he struggled to get the intermediate tyres to work before finishing the race 14th.

Asked about the incident with Karthikeyan, Button told Sky Sports: "It was totally my fault, I hit the brakes and locked the rears, but I couldn't do anything but hit him really. It broke my front wing and I had to do an extra pit stop which took quite a while. I just couldn't get heat in any of the tyres and everything that could have gone wrong in terms of strategy just went wrong. It was one of those tough afternoons where everything spiralled out of control.

He added: "All I could do is laugh really because it was so bad today. I'm sorry for the guys, they did a great job all weekend, and obviously we expected more from the front row. It was one of those days and I'm hopeful things will be back to normal in China."

Button was impressed by the pace of Fernando Alonso and Sergio Perez at the front of the field, but said he would put the race firmly behind him.

"You'd say Sauber and Perez are very good in these conditions and the Ferrari worked well in these conditions," he added. "I wouldn't say we were slow in these conditions, I just don't think it went our way. I don't know what Lewis [Hamilton]'s pace was like compared to Alonso, all I know is that I finished almost a lap behind and that's the thing that will stick in my mind for a little while and then I'll get over it and move on."

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