Quote:
Originally posted by Neilk
BAR is claiming that Button is still under contract and BMW claims that Button excercised a "get out" clause.
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And the escape clause supposedly hinges on Honda's ongoing "committment"? Given their increased committments of both cash and engineeering talent to BAR through at least 2007, that could be a tough sell.
Sounds like JB at least handled the situation with tact.
Dave Richard's official BAR statement:
"We are absolutely astounded to hear that Jenson thinks that he is leaving BAR for Williams next season. Neither myself, nor any other member of the BAR team, has been contacted by Jenson to discuss this matter.
Jenson is under contract with BAR for 2005, since we took up an option on his services only last month. At no time during the last few months has Jenson expressed anything other than his desire to continue working with BAR to achieve our collective goal of winning the World Championship.
It is our intention to enforce our current contractual position with Jenson. My duty is to the 400- strong workforce which has worked tirelessly over the past two seasons to give Jenson the car he has today; and to our partners, whose unfailing support and commitment to the team has contributed to the solid structure we now have in place.
Unfortunately this is now a matter for the lawyers and I have every confidence that the legal process will confirm that yesterday's announcement has not only been premature but also invalid."
On its face, I don't think that the move to Williams makes much sense. If he does go, I would guess that Webber will be outperforming JB with some frequency, with the Hondas outperforming them both.
While the Brit F1 press seems to slavishly fawn over JB, he seems to me to have built a reputation on supposedly unfulfilled potential. Except that "potential", IMO has remained unrealized now over JB's 5 seasons in F1 with 3 different teams.
Tim