Watching the ITV F1 coverage of the German grand-prix, and you’ve got to feel a bit sorry for poor old Jenson Button, currently Britain’s leading driver.
He’s again in a tug of war between BAR and Williams, but this time he’s keeping very quiet on the matter. Last year he was a bit more vocal: he wanted to move to Williams because they had the pedigree. BAR, he felt, just didn’t offer the future that he hoped for. Unfortunately, this year the situation has reversed itself rather horribly for him. Williams have lost BMW’s engines, and are struggling this year. Their prospects look bleak for the next few years, as at best they’ll have a works engine.
BAR, on the other hand, are largely owned by Honda, so are getting engineering support from a company that has been involved in F1 for years, and has expertise that has won Grand Prix. You really feel that, for all their faults, BAR have the better prospects. So Jenson wanted to move to Williams, but BAR had the contractual upper hand. This year Williams have the contractual upper hand - having an option on Button - and are making all the noises that they’ll be exercising that option, regardless of Button’s preferences.
There was a rumour that Ferrari might step in, but they’re not looking as hot now as they have been in recent years. But Button seems to be a victim of previous contractual decisions made by previous management on his behalf. It’d be a real shame to see Britain’s best F1 hope in many years moving between tier-2 teams for all the wrong reasons.
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