McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh has spoken out in reference to claims that Lewis Hamilton is furious after teammate Jenson Button overtook him during the Turkish Grand Prix, contrary to what the 2008 champion had been told over his radio.

The official F1 website has highlighted a moment during the Turkish race when chief race engineer Phil Prew, having told Hamilton that he would need to save fuel and that both cars were on the same strategy, was asked by the Englishman whether Button would be passing his as he appeared to be closing in.

Having been told that this was not the plan, Hamilton was stunned to find himself being passed by his teammate for the lead, even though, moments later, he reclaimed the position.

While Button subsequently confirmed that he had been told to save fuel, he said that he had not been given a target lap time, a claim which appeared to contradict comments made by (chief engineer) Tim Goss, who said both drivers had been given identical target lap times.

According to the Daily Telegraph, Hamilton was furious, though there are no direct quotes, the newspaper suggesting that Button was either not given the message or chose to ignore it.

Speaking in a Vodafone phone-in press conference this morning, Whitmarsh sought to clarify the situation. "Shortly after Lewis was told that Jenson wouldn't overtake him, Jenson did overtake him," he said. "Phil (Prew) gave an opinion to Lewis, and as it turned out his opinion was wrong. It's as simple as that.

"They are racing drivers," he continued, "they both had a challenge in that race from the outset because the race was a bit quicker than expected both for the Red Bulls and for the McLarens, so we were consuming more fuel, so we had to find ways to save fuel.

"Inevitably there's a dilemma as you get to the end of a race about how hard you can race. I think we had it amply demonstrated that a team and their drivers can get that wrong," he added, referring to the Red Bull clash, "but there's no doubt that both of our drivers want to win. They were being told to look after fuel, and as a consequence of that Phil Prew had the opinion that Jenson wouldn't overtake.

"Lewis was surprised by that information. He asked the question, Phil Prew gave an instinctive and immediate response, which was that he didn't think that Jenson was going to pass. "He knew that they had both been given the same instruction to save fuel.

"I don't think it was expected that Lewis would lift as much in Turn 8," he continued, "and I think when Jenson saw that he thought it was his opportunity to close up and subsequently make the pass. But Lewis wasn't about to give up first place easily, and I think made a fairly robust overtake to ensure that he remained in the lead.

"Thereafter, the two of them decided that there was a reasonably fair and equitable equilibrium as they looked to ensure that they got to the end with enough fuel and with cars intact."