McLaren boss Zak Brown has dismissed comments from Mark Webber, who said Jenson Button isn't taking his one-off return for the Monaco Grand Prix seriously and it is therefore a "non-story".
Button will return from 'retirement' to compete for McLaren next weekend, replacing Fernando Alonso, who is participating in the Indy 500 on the same day.
Webber, a good friend of Button's, believes the Briton has little interest in the race after he opted not to drive the McLaren MCL32 during a Bahrain test when it was offered to him by the team.
"Jenson didn't do any testing in Bahrain, he doesn't take it so seriously – 'I want to stay in America and do my triathlon, I'm not bothered about the Bahrain test' – which for me was a surprise," said Webber.
He added: "I don't think he's very interested. I don't think he would have been first on the phone [about replacing Alonso]."
Brown however disagrees and says Button is "very much looking forward" to Monaco and has spent plenty of time in the McLaren simulator in preparation for the weekend.
"I saw Mark’s comments, I don’t know if Mark’s talked to him or not or if that’s just Mark’s observation," said Brown.
"I think Jenson is very much looking forward to doing Monaco," he added. "He was at the factory, has spent time in the simulator, we gave him the option, he knows Monaco, has won Monaco.
"He did F1 for 17 years, has really only missed four races, it’s not like he’s come out of retirement – [someone] who has not been in the car three years – he felt that [simulator work] was his best preparation, he knows what he’s doing, that was the option he wanted to choose."
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