British F1 star Lewis Hamilton pays the price for his father and McLaren-Mercedes team's decision to pull him out of a charity triathlon in which he had agreed to take on compatriot Jenson Button.

Jenson Button has angrily branded his countryman and Formula 1 rival Lewis Hamilton as 'weak, very weak', after the McLaren-Mercedes ace pulled out of a charity triathlon in which he had agreed to take the Honda star on.

Hamilton initially accepted Button's challenge [see separate story - click here], with the latter further upping the ante by vowing to donate £10,000 to a charity of the 23-year-old's choice should he be beaten in the Bath triathlon.

The bet arose after Hamilton had declared that he was fitter than Button, with the 2006 Hungarian Grand Prix winner - a man who finished 117th out of 1,700 entrants, and 14th in his age group, in a semi-professional triathlon last month - subsequently goading him in an FIA press conference to prove it, and David Coulthard egging the pair on by telling Hamilton: "He's throwing down a man challenge; you can't turn down a man challenge."

Whilst the erstwhile world championship leader initially agreed to take part, less than half an hour later his father Anthony pulled the plug on the idea [see separate story - click here], insisting this year's Australian and Monaco Grand Prix winner focus his efforts solely on his world championship bid - something he has been accused in recent weeks of letting his attentions stray away from. Button, however, clearly remained unimpressed.

"That's weak, very weak," he is quoted as having said by Swiss publication Motorsport Aktuell. "Honestly, I'm surprised. He's an athlete, I'm an athlete - we both love the challenge.

"What happens to the money now? Hopefully he still donates it ..."

Responding to negative media coverage of the incident in British newspapers today, McLaren CEO Martin Whitmarsh told ITV: "Right now Lewis is damned if he does and he's damned if he doesn't."