Exclusive - Mansell: Button showed tremendous maturity after Karthikeyan smash

Nigel Mansell insists Jenson Button showed tremendous maturity after admitting his smash with HRT’s Narain Karthikeyan was his fault.

The McLaren ace was in a potentially race winning position when he collided with the Indian during the rain affected Malaysian Grand Prix on Sunday.

After the race, the 32-year-old said: “I was struggling to keep the tyres up to temperature and it was totally my fault.”

Former Ferrari and McLaren star Mansell, however, claims Button might be being too hard on himself, telling the Alan Brazil Sports Breakfast: “It shows fantastic maturity [to admit the mistake was his fault]. Jenson’s a fantastic driver.

“I thought it was a 50-50 call. When a car is that slow and you know you have faster cars around you, you have to pay attention and he should have given way.

“Jenson was very good about it. It was a racing incident and the conditions didn’t help.

“When you commit a little bit in those conditions, you haven’t got the grip to slow the car down as quickly as when in the dry. If that was on a dry day then there would have been no contact.”