Formula One driver Jenson Button told the computer hacker who broke into his website and posted a message claiming the Briton was seriously injured in a car wreck to "get some friends."
Button responded after waking in Hungary ahead of Sunday's grand prix to learn his official site had been breached overnight, with hackers claiming the McLaren driver was receiving treatment in a Hungarian hospital after an accident.
"Morning everyone I'm sure you've realized by now but someone hacked into my website [Saturday] night, I'm completely fine and on my way to #200," Button tweeted, in reference to his milestone 200th race start in F1.
"The guy who did it obviously didn't have any better offers on a Saturday night so stayed home to do that instead #getsomefriends," he added.
Button's rep earlier attacked the hacking as a "distasteful hoax," while the offending message was deleted and replaced with a statement confirming the report as a fake and assuring fans that Button was fit and well ahead of Sunday's race.
"The story is completely untrue and is a very distasteful hoax,' Button's spokesman said. "The website was immediately taken down and its security will now be reviewed. Jenson was asleep in bed when we were made aware that someone had hacked into his site and made the untrue claims. He is still totally oblivious. We can assure people that he is completely fit and healthy and will be taking part in [Sunday's] race."
A later statement posted on the site by his management team confirmed, "Earlier on [Saturday] some of you may have seen a news article here on JensonButton.com regarding a car accident. This article was completely false and we are currently investigating how an unauthorized person was able to post to the site."
It added, "Suffice to say Jenson is safe, well and tucked up in bed looking forward to [Sunday]'s race, starting from 3rd on the grid. We can only apologize for any alarm this may have caused."
The British driver qualified behind McLaren teammate, Lewis Hamilton, who posted the second fastest time Saturday as F1 leader and reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel captured pole.
