After the Australian GP, McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton lambasted the team for calling him in for a second tire change pit stop.

“Whose call was it to bring me in?” the 2008 world champion asked his team over the radio during the closing stages. “A fricking terrible idea,” he said. “It was probably one of the drives of my life, but unfortunately due to the strategy I was put a bit further back,” Hamilton said. “The guys do a fantastic job, but the strategy was not right. I’d had a great race, the car was good and the tyres were good. Everybody in front of me did one stop and for some reason I did two. I was pulled in for a second stop and I had to work my backside off to close a 20-second gap. By the time I got there my tyres were destroyed and it was impossible to overtake.”

Now the driver has changed his tune — after much criticism — and backs the team’s strategy.

Button & Hamilton