Button to inflict punishment after Malaysian mess

Jenson Button has revealed he will inflict his own personal punishment after losing his championship lead in Malaysia last weekend.

The McLaren driver also uncharacteristically collided with a rival car at Sepang - backmaker HRT’s Narain Karthikeyan - and accepted all the blame.

"It shows fantastic maturity (to apologise)," 1992 world champion and fellow Briton Nigel Mansell told UK radio Talksport.

But his maturity won’t stop him from "hurting" himself this weekend in Hawaii, when he competes in the Lavaman triathlon.

"I’m going to hurt myself because I deserve the pain after (Malaysia)," he is quoted by the Telegraph newspaper.

"I will make sure I hurt myself extra for such a bad day."

For Button and for McLaren in general, however, Sunday’s bad result was what team boss Martin Whitmarsh described as a ’get-out-of-jail-free card’.

"Sebastian (Vettel) not coming away with any points and a few of the other contenders not getting any points, it could have been a lot worse," he said.