A row is brewing in F1 -- when isn't there? -- over Jenson Button's contract, as the British driver has issued a statement about why he now wants to stay with BAR-Honda, his current team. This follows a legal row last year in which Button wanted to head for Williams, seeing it as a better bet for his championship chances.
The British driver, tipped by many for the top, is currently at BAR, where he is contracted to stay until next season, when he appears to be legally bound to go to Williams. Which hasn't been having a good year.
Button said that "Frank Williams needs to understand my desire to stay at BAR", according to Autosport magazine. "The BAR team is my best chance of becoming Britain's next world champion. For me, the best thing is to stay with BAR, not just in short term."
Williams maintains that it has a deal with Button, which Autosport understands was finalised last year after the FIA-recognised Contracts Recognition Board decreed Button should stay with BAR Honda in 2005. At that time, Button wanted to switch from BAR to Williams, but Honda has since bought 45 per cent of the BAR team and dramatically improved its F1 budget, while Wiliiams is almost certainly without a manufacturer engine deal for 2006 following BMW's decision to buy Sauber.
Sir Frank Williams said he has every intention of enforcing the arrangement to acquire Button: "We do have an existing contract with Jenson for 2006 and fully expect him to arrive at Williams in the due period of time."
But Button says that "everything has changed" from this time last year, when he wanted to leave BAR for Williams. He told Autosport he had "great respect" for Sir Frank and hoped that the two of them could behave like adults over the affair.
"I'll certainly be able to look him in the eye when I see him in the paddock," Button told Autosport. "We have quite a lot of history together, going back to before 2000, so we need to be adult about it and understand the situation. I can understand Williams's situation, but Frank has to understand mine as well. To be competitive next year any team has to be with a manufacturer that is fully involved. The position has changed a lot with Williams from last year. A racing driver's career is short, so you have to make the best you can of it."
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