Webber: "Button not taking Monaco seriously"

Jenson Button may not be taking his one-off return to F1 this month "seriously enough". That is the view of the Briton's contemporary Mark Webber, referring to the fact that Button - although newly retired - will fill in at McLaren-Honda in Monaco while Fernando Alonso is doing the Indy 500.

"When I heard that he (Button) wouldn't do the Bahrain test, I wondered if he was taking it seriously enough," Australian Webber is quoted by 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 Red Bull driver added.

But Webber said Button's return is little more than a sideshow anyway, amid McLaren-Honda's crisis and the title fight between Ferrari and Mercedes. "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," Webber added. (GMM)