Button Criticises 'Pathetic' da Matta

Briton Jenson Button accused Toyota's Cristiano da Matta of 'pathetic' driving on Sunday after struggling to lap the Brazilian at the Monaco Grand Prix.

"I was really struggling with traffic," said the BAR driver, who finished second behind Renault's Italian Jarno Trulli.

"I was sat behind da Matta for three and a half laps which was just...I've never seen anything like it, I really haven't," Button told a news conference.

"They took a lap to get their blue flags out but he had blue flags for two and a half laps. I'll be having a word with him afterwards because it's just not on. It was pathetic."

Da Matta finished sixth with French teammate Olivier Panis eighth as Toyota scored their first points of the year. The Brazilian, who was handed a drive-through penalty, and his team maintained that the race direction was at fault.

"The inconsistency in blue flags is appalling," said Toyota's technical director Mike Gascoyne. "Cristiano got a blue flag and moved over at the next corner and was then given a penalty.

"Ralf Schumacher in front of us was a lap behind for two or three laps, nothing was done and this has cost us points. There seems to be one rule for those at the front and one rule for the rest of us."