Honda change tune on Australia retirement

Although the team said immediately after the Melbourne event that they ordered Button not to cross the finish line after his engine blew-up coming out of the last corner, Honda are now claiming that he was required to stop for safety reasons.

Had Button taken the chequered flag in Australia he would have scored three points but would also have been forced to take a 10-place grid penalty for needing an engine change prior to the San Marino Grand Prix.

Speaking after Melbourne - both on live TV and to journalists after the race - team boss Nick Fry said there was a clear decision to avoid crossing the finish line.

"It was a quick call by the race engineer and we need to see if it was right later," Fry said back then, later adding: "Clearly what we will do, as we will do with everything, is have an evaluation of the situation. But at the moment we feel it was the right decision.

"We lost points here, but we can go to Imola with a clean sheet of paper, a new engine and improvements to the car. Hopefully we can turn it into a good race position next time around."

However, when asked at Imola if the decision in Australia was fully justified - with Button taking a front-row slot for the San Marino Grand Prix - Fry provided a different version of what happened in Australia.

"It wasn't a matter of stopping him before the line," he stated. "Although on television it looked like he was quite close to the line, the actual measured distance was actually the best part of half a kilometre. So it really wasn't a question of stopping him before the line.

"And with the amount of oil that was flying around, the best thing to do for the safety of him, (Giancarlo) Fisichella and others was to get him off the track. It really wasn't a debate of should we or shouldn't we."