Alonso and Button disagree

Jenson Button slammed the critics who claim F1 is getting boring. Britain’s world champion responded to a “boredom" broadside from Fernando Alonso, who added his voice to those claiming excitement has gone from the sport.

“For me, there is overtaking in the sport," said Button. “I disagree that there hasn’t been any overtaking for the past 20 years. Last year, there was quite a bit and in the last race.

“We are driving missiles. But if there was overtaking at every corner, we would find it boring. It wouldn’t mean so much. In F1 when you see a move, you really respect it as you know how difficult it is to do. I don’t think F1 is on a downer."

Alonso had insisted there would be little overtaking to get the fans buzzing in this weekend’s Malaysian Grand Prix.

“If you want to see overtaking, this is not the right place," said the double world champion, one of the most attacking drivers on the grid. In F1, there has been no overtaking for 20 years, so it is not because of new rules. F1 is maybe not the perfect sport to see overtaking. This is about technology, about driving precisely, everything being under control in the garage or the track, in the factory.

“We are talking about maybe less than millimeters of margin in the cars. I don’t think that in 2003, 2004, 2005 or 2006 we saw much overtaking."