Hamilton blasts Button in Twitter rant

(CNN) -- Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton has become the latest high-profile British sports star to regret a hastily dashed off tweet after lashing out at McLaren teammate Jenson Button on Twitter

Hamilton accused fellow Briton Button of "unfollowing" him -- not subscribing to his tweets -- on the micro-blogging site, before later discovering his colleague had never followed him.

The tweets were sent just hours after the conclusion of the Japanese Grand Prix, where Button finished one place above Hamilton in fourth position.

The 2008 world champion Hamilton will leave McLaren at the end of the 2012 season to join German team Mercedes in a three-year deal.

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"Just noticed @jensonbutton unfollowed, thats a shame. After 3 years as teammates, I thought we respected one another but clearly he doesn't," tweeted Hamilton from his personal account, which has over one million followers.

He went on to add: "Funny thing is, we are STILL teammates! All good tho, I plan on giving this team & fans all I got til I cross the finish line in Brazil!!!"

Hamilton is currently fourth in the drivers' standings, 42 points behind Ferrari's championship leader Fernando Alonso. Button is sixth, 31 points adrift of his colleague.

The 27-year-old later retracted the outburst, saying: "My bad, just found out Jenson never followed me. Don't blame him! Need to be on Twitter more!"

It is not the first time Hamilton has fallen foul of an over eager tweet. Earlier this season he had to remove a Twitter post that had divulged sensitive team information.

Hamilton's latest Twitter mishap comes days after England soccer player Ashley Cole used the website to aim an insult at the Football Association (FA).

Cole was reacting to an FA report which outlined the reasons why the organization hit Chelsea captain John Terry with a four-match ban and a $356,000 fine for racially abusing Queens Park Rangers defender Anton Ferdinand.

The evidence given by Cole, a teammate of Terry's, during the disciplinary process had been criticized in the report.

The defender, who has been charged with misconduct by the FA, tweeted: "Hahahahaa, well done #fa I lied did I, #BUNCHOFTWATS". He later apologized "unreservedly".

Meanwhile Alonso's Ferrari teammate Felipe Massa hopes his first podium finish since the 2010 Korean Grand Prix will help him to secure his place at the Italian team for next season.

The Brazilian has failed to recapture his best form since fracturing his skull in 2009 and his future has been the subject of much speculation in recent months.

"Being back on the podium after almost two years away is just great and I feel really uplifted," Massa told a post-race press conference after finishing second behind Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel.

"They have been two tough years for me and, sometimes, a million things go through your mind, some of them bad, but finally I can be happy! It's an important result psychologically and also in terms of my future, at least I think so!"