McLaren: Twitter not sign of driver split

McLaren managing director Jonathan Neale has insisted that Lewis Hamilton's Twitter gaffe following the Japanese Grand Prix won't disrupt the team through he remainder of the F1 season.

Hamilton caused a stir with a series of posts after Suzuka relating to the fact that Jenson Button had unfollowed him on the social networking site - only to then discover that his fellow Brit hadn't actually followed him in the first place.

It led to talk that the Twitter posts were an indication that the relationship between the two drivers was breaking down but Neale said the pair had spoken and there was no cause for concern.

"Does it concern us in terms of the relationship in the team going forward and our assault on the championship?" he said during the latest Vodafone McLaren Mercedes phone-in. "No it doesn't. Lewis has already spoken to Jenson out in Mokpo in Korea so we don't have any concerns about that.

"As for Twitter itself, it's obviously an important part of the marketing and news space but it has its issues. It's just one of those things where you shrug the shoulders and say that's a bit unfortunate. Lewis corrected to the error and has spoken to Jenson, so from inside the team we're fine going forward and looking forward to this weekend."

Neale also said he felt the two drivers were focused on the job at hand and denied that the relationship wasn't as strong as in the past.

"Obviously Lewis has made a decision to go to another team so, like in any relationship, we respect that," he said. "There will be another chapter in both the McLaren story and the Lewis Hamilton story and it won't be the first or the last time a driver has moved on. But we're really focused on delivering a good car and I think it's very close at the top with five races to go and anything can happen.

"Despite whatever is going on around us in regulations and media and everything else, we are a focused race team and that's what we're focusing on between now and the end of the year."