Button is refusing to apologise

A war of words that started in the close-season was fuelled by a mix-up at the Australian Grand Prix which left Button queueing behind his team-mate in the pitlane.

And it moved up another notch in steamy Sepang on Friday when Button refused to apologise after criticising Villeneuve in his newspaper column.

But Richards said: "I do not believe they should be gagged for some sort of corporate speak, but allowed to get on with things unless it goes too far and damages the team.

We know where we stand now - we will still work together but more separately Jacques Villeneuve How the row started

"I very much have the opinion that the drivers should be individuals and characters in their own right.

"You have to accept that inside teams the biggest rival is going to be your team-mate.

"They are both clearly highly competitive so these odd little eruptions are going to happen and it's not an issue. I am not worried about it in the slightest."

Richards said Villeneuve was telling the truth when he said there were problems with his radio in Australia.

Villeneuve responded to Button's newspaper comments by calling the Briton a "weak team-mate".

Friday's qualifying report

And the 1997 world champion, who was almost a second slower than Button in Friday's qualifying session for the Malaysian Grand Prix, indicated that the row could affect the team.

"I mean what I say and stand by what I said. We know where we stand now," said Villeneuve.

"We will still work together but more separately."

Blame for the Melbourne mix-up, which saw Villeneuve pit one lap too late, was put down to a faulty ear-piece.

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But Button refused to apologise for saying Villeneuve had ruined his race - and labelled Villeneuve "pathetic" for his later remarks.

"Why should I apologise?" Button said. "I never said he did anything on purpose, I said he ruined my race for whatever reason which was the truth.

"We had a little chat yesterday. I thought things were resolved until I heard what he said afterwards.

"The relationship is fine, we talk and we share data. We have to, two cars are better than one."