Buttongate II concludes?!?!?!

**^^v** · 20-09-2005 01:46 AM

alrite boyz..
big big news... lookz lik Button will be staying at BAR for 06 n beyond!!

EDIT: n Taku's gonna step down into a testing role (n hopefully get a few drives if either rubens or jenson r sick

)

[19/09/05 - 17:08]

Button – BAR announcement imminent
Paying off Williams to stay at BAR Honda?

Zoom
BAR nor Button has yet to confirm any deal
Jenson Button is to remain at BAR Honda in 2006 and will not be moving over to Williams Cosworth at the end of the season Autosport-Atlas report this afternoon. Should the news be confirmed, Button will line up alongside Rubens Barrichello in the team next year with Takuma Sato stepping down to a test role with the team.

Button signed a deal with Williams last year that would see him move to the squad should he not secure a certain number of points by a certain date. After a disastrous start to the season, that points total was never going to be attained and Button’s contract with Williams for 2006 and 2007 kicked in.

With BMW departing the Williams scene at the end of the year to take over the Sauber team and Williams running Cosworth power next year, Button stated that he did not want to drive for the team but wanted to stay at BAR Honda. While Button’s image took yet another public bashing, it seems a deal has now been concluded and Button will remain at BAR with Williams receiving a pay-off for Button’s contract.

Button, yet to win a Grand Prix after 98 starts, believes that he is more likely to win races and the title with BAR Honda than with Williams.

With Button staying firmly put and Nick Heidfeld heading off to the new BMW squad, Williams will be looking for a partner for Mark Webber next season with both Antonio Pizzonia and GP2 racer Nico Rosberg aiming for the race seat. The team is expected to run a third car in the Friday practice sessions next year for either Pizzonia or Rosberg.

Earl ALEXANDER
© CAPSIS International

f1live.com

**TwEigh** · 20-09-2005 02:00 AM

I think William eagers for cash.. along with losing HP sponsorship.
They will defenietly going to get a young driver, save their cash on the driver salary.

How much BAR offer them?
Now i wonder how many years of contract will Janson sign with BAR

**Vivski** · 20-09-2005 03:05 AM

Funny if Williams is top of the pops in 2006 and the Honda V8 turns out to be slow. Haha.

**TwEigh** · 20-09-2005 03:24 AM

just for fun, lets make 10 dollars bet that William wont make to the top 3 in the constructor.. the result will be decided at the end of 2006 GP, hahahahaha

**^^v** · 20-09-2005 12:51 PM

Originally Posted by Vivski

Funny if Williams is top of the pops in 2006 and the Honda V8 turns out to be slow. Haha.

lolz yeah it would be funny.... but being a realist.. i doubt it lolz...

Reports say Jenson stays at BAR

Stories abound today (Monday) that the long-running 'Buttongate' saga involving BAR-Honda and Williams may have been resolved.

Sources indicate that an agreement was reached late last Friday, allowing Jenson Button to sign a multi-year contract to remain at his team of choice, present stable BAR-Honda.

Although none of the parties involved would comment, it is understood that a figure of somewhere in excess of £10million pounds is involved, although the details are as yet unknown.

Unconfirmed reports also indicate that Button himself has had to buy his own contract from Williams, although if this is the case it is expected that Honda will renumerate him.

Whatever the final situation, in monetary terms Williams must have secured enough to offset the sponsorship deals that are expected to be lost as a result of Button not driving for the team in 2006.

Williams are switching to Cosworth V8 power for what is believed to be one year only, prior to to taking up a supply of Lexus badged Toyota engines from 2007 onwards.

An announcement can be expected regarding Button-BAR later this week.

Written: Mon, 19 Sep 2005 17:12:03

f1 central

**civ_sik** · 20-09-2005 02:46 PM

yay for button

**TwEigh** · 20-09-2005 05:34 PM

now im curious how he will compete with Barichello.. and how he will be treated as a second driver

**jackosimm** · 20-09-2005 05:45 PM

always thought this would happen for some reason, probably a good thing, nice combination for 06

**^^v** · 21-09-2005 10:42 AM

High price on Briton's head

(GMM) Jenson Button's reported escape from his 2006 Williams contract may have cost as much as $36 million.

An official announcement is due as early as Tuesday or Wednesday, but no party was giving any hints on Monday night.

''I simply can't comment on this matter at the present time,'' 25-year-old Button's manager Richard Goddard told the British 'Guardian' newspaper.

Sir Frank's loss will not only be BAR-Honda's gain, but should help to cover the cost of Williams' customer Cosworth engines next year and the departure of title sponsor HP.

It is further speculated that BAR and Honda will help JB foot the multi-million dollar bill by offering an advance payment on a reported multiple year, $80m new contract.

The news leaves Button to team up with Rubens Barrichello next year, a seat vacant at Williams, and Takuma Sato out in the F1 cold.

Written: Tue, 20 Sep 2005 23:18:17

Z · 21-09-2005 09:42 PM

Button pays $29m for release
Byron Young
21sep05

JENSON Button has paid rival Williams a staggering $29 million to remain at BAR-Honda next season.

The 25-year-old, who was set to partner Mark Webber next season, has forked out the biggest fee paid by a racing driver to chase his dream of becoming world champion and end a long-running contract dispute with his former bosses.

He has agreed to pay Williams nearly $10 million-a-season for the next three years not to drive for them and is surrendering a massive chunk of his future income in one of the biggest financial gambles taken by a grand prix racer.

The news broke only hours after he landed in Sao Paulo where he is preparing for Sunday's Brazilian GP.

The agreement was signed on Friday and is expected to be announced officially today.

Team boss Frank Williams initially insisted no amount of money would persuade him to release the man he brought into Formula One five years ago.

A public confrontation followed after Button was equally adamant he would not switch camps to a team without a works engine.

After a legal wrangle in a bid to leave BAR last season, Button had put his name to the dotted line with Williams in the belief that Honda was deserting BAR and Williams was set to go from strength to strength with German car giant BMW.

But in a remarkable reversal of fortunes, BMW split with Williams and Honda bought a controlling share in BAR, prompting Button's change of heart.

Button's driving partner in 2006 will be nine-time winner Rubens Barrichello, who has split from Ferrari a year early.

"The only reason I am doing all this is to become world champion," Button said recently.

His driving ambition to remain at BAR-Honda, where he says Honda-power can make him a world beater, has threatened to cloud his future.

A string of pit lane figures, including former champions Jacques Villeneuve and Jackie Stewart, warned he risked ruining his reputation and derailing his entire career by not living up to his word.

But F1 ringmaster Bernie Ecclestone advised team boss Frank Williams to release Button and sign rising star Nico Rosberg, son of former champion Keke Rosberg.

Rosberg, who is already a Williams test driver, could make his F1 debut for the team in the final two races of the season next month in Japan and China.

**^^v** · 21-09-2005 09:58 PM

[21/09/05 - 12:41]

BAR Honda confirms Button and Barrichello
Sato out of contract but in talks with the team

Zoom
Staing at BAR and not going to Williams in '06
BAR Honda confirmed this morning that Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello will be racing together for the team in 2006.

After three successful years with BAR Honda, Jenson and the team have concluded a multi-year extension to his current contract. From 2006 he will partner Rubens, who will join BAR Honda on 1 January and whose place within the team was confirmed last month.

Jenson Button
“I'm obviously delighted to confirm that I will be staying with BAR Honda for the next few years. Since I joined the team in 2003 we've shared some important moments in my career and the team's history. There are many more goals for us to achieve together – not least of all winning the World Championship. I want to be at BAR Honda to see that happen – and I believe that it will happen. 2005 has been a challenging year but we’ve bounced back from our problems and the team is much stronger as a result. I also have a new team-mate in Rubens Barrichello and I look forward to the two of us pushing each other, and working together to keep driving the team forward."

"I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone at the team, at Honda and our tyre partner Michelin for their support over the past three years. The effort that has gone into building this team into what it is today has been relentless. It's been a privilege to be a part of BAR Honda and I am delighted that I will be part of its future. I look forward to achieving our next goal – our first win together – in the very near future."

Nick Fry, BAR Honda Chief Executive Officer
“We are delighted to be able to confirm our 2006 race driver line-up. We can now put the uncertainty of the past few months behind us and focus on the future, which looks very exciting indeed. We have made no secret of the fact that we wanted Jenson Button to remain with B.A.R Honda for the next few years and that we considered Jenson and Rubens to be our dream line-up for 2006 and beyond."

“Takuma Sato has been an extremely valuable and much-liked member of our team for four years in the roles of test driver, third driver and, latterly, race driver. He has made an enormous contribution to BAR Honda’s development. Takuma’s current contract reaches its conclusion at the end of 2005 but BAR Honda is in discussions with Takuma and his management regarding possibilities for the future.”

Gil de Ferran, Sporting Director
“I am very pleased that our team will feature one of the strongest driver line-ups in Formula One for 2006 and beyond. I know both Rubens and Jenson well and I have every confidence that they will work well together to develop our car and team whilst competing strongly at the race track. I have enjoyed working with Taku over the past year and I wish him well for the future.”

E.A.
Source BAR Honda