2005 Brazilian Gran Prix

It's official...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/4267520.stm said:
Button agrees deal to stay at BAR

Williams has confirmed that they have released BAR driver Jenson Button from the deal that would have seen him switch Formula One teams next season.

The 25-year-old Briton, who decided in July that he would rather stay with BAR, has been released after reaching a financial settlement with Williams.

"I would like to thank Frank Williams for accommodating a compromise to what was a binding contract," said Button.

"I regret the difficulties my decision has caused everyone involved."

Team owner Sir Frank Williams, who insisted over the summer that Button's contract was binding, expressed his relief that the saga was over.

"I am glad that we have brought this matter to a conclusion and we can return to what we do best, racing," he said.

With Williams ending their relationship with engine provider BMW, Button feels his title ambitions are best served while BAR, who have the full backing of Honda.

BAR have already recruited Brazilian Rubens Barrichello for 2006, with Takuma Sato making way for the Ferrari driver.

Button is believed to be paying up to £20m to Williams so he can stay at BAR and is thought the Briton will commit to the team on a long-term deal worth around £10m a season.

Only a year ago he tried to leave BAR in order to re-join Williams, with whom he got his F1 break in 2000.

And former team owner Eddie Jordan says Button is in danger of tarnishing his burgeoning reputation.

"If I was a team manager, I would be thinking how could I possibly sign a contract with Jenson when seemingly every contract he does sign he no longer wants to honour," Jordan told BBC Radio Five Live.

"I'm sure that's not Jenson and I believe somewhere in the background there is a management or a financial issue.

"But he must be very careful not to become tainted goods."
Click to expand...

So - BAR is Barrichello and Button next year...

Poor ikkle Sato is out on his arse. :D

Simon/~Flibster
 
Last edited:
ashtray_head said:
well at least its over now..... but I agree with EJ on this as well

and Flib.....
93%....you need to get out more! :D

only a babe tho... :p
Click to expand...

EJ for once is talkign sence. :D

I know - I spend far too long working on F1 related stuff at home..and I was very young - but went to my first GP at the age of 4 though.. :D Was standing behind a Lotus when it fired up - scared the hell out of me. :D


And now...BAR's side on things.

Button partners Barrichello at BAR in 2006

BAR Honda is delighted to confirm 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.

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 BAR 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."

Sporting Director Gil de Ferran: "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."

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."
Click to expand...
 
Is it just me or does anyone else think that our Jenson is getting a bit over confident? I have a feeling he's going to be in for a rude awakening once Rubens gets into the car.

You only have to look at his performances in Ferraris which have been designed around someone else's very different driving style to see that he's an extremely capable driver and will provide Jenson with a far bigger challenge than any of his previous team mates.
 
rpstewart said:
Is it just me or does anyone else think that our Jenson is getting a bit over confident? I have a feeling he's going to be in for a rude awakening once Rubens gets into the car.

You only have to look at his performances in Ferraris which have been designed around someone else's very different driving style to see that he's an extremely capable driver and will provide Jenson with a far bigger challenge than any of his previous team mates.
Click to expand...

I agree Its gonna be tuff for Jense and interesting for us to find out! :D
 
Here's the one everyones been waiting for... :D

Official statement from Takuma Sato

Following today's announcement that Jenson Button will partner Rubens Barrichello in 2006, Takuma Sato issued the following statement:

"I am not surprised by today's confirmation about next year but am obviously very disappointed with the news.

I have many thoughts about the situation and have my own opinions, but now is not the right time for me to comment.

I would like to thank all my fans and supporters for their continued faith and look forward to rewarding them with some good news soon."
Click to expand...
 
Aaaaaand Williams

Official statement from WilliamsF1

release him from his contractual commitment to the team for 2006 and beyond.

As consideration for the release from the terms of his contract, Jenson has agreed a financial settlement with WilliamsF1.

Button acknowledged the binding terms of his contract with WilliamsF1 and appreciated the efforts that had been made to find a resolution. He said, "I would like to thank Frank for accommodating a compromise to what was a binding contract and I regret the difficulties my decision has caused everyone involved."

Frank Williams wished Jenson well in the future and said, "I am glad that we have brought this matter to a conclusion and we can return to what we do best – racing."
Click to expand...
 
Fosters might pull out of F1

Australia's international beer brand Foster's is about to race away from formula one. The 'Brand Republic' publication said the company's long running association with grand prix racing will begin to evaporate when Foster's withdraws its title sponsorship of the British GP.

UK chairman and managing director of parent company Scottish & Newcastle, John Dunsmore, is reported to have remarked that the formula one connection 'no longer fits with (Foster's') core strategy'.

Foster's has a contract with the British grand prix held at Silverstone until 2010, but Brand Republic said it is likely to have an 'opt-out' clause.

Also in doubt is the title sponsorship of the Australian GP. Australian reports indicated that, with the beer market in decline, Foster's was likely to turn from grand prix sponsorship to, for example, international surfing contests.
Click to expand...
 
Klien's future at Red Bull not fixed yet

If statistics spoke for themselves, Christian Klien would be a dead-certainty to retain his Red Bull drive next to David Coulthard in 2006. The young Austrian, by the end of the year, will have driven 15 to Vitantonio Liuzzi's 4 grands prix, indicating that Klien is the favoured son of countryman and team owner Dietrich Mateschitz. It might not be so.

Mateschitz, the Red Bull magnate and billionaire, is probably a greater admirer of Italian Liuzzi. Whether 'Tonio' or Christian get the Red Bull or Minardi ride next season, then, is far from settled. He wondered in Motorsport Aktuell magazine: "You have to ask, how much potential does Christian have up his sleeve? With experience he gets better, because that is a big part of being a quality driver. Whether Klien is at 90, 95, 97 or 100 per cent of his potential, we do not yet know."

Liuzzi is definitely back in the game. Mateschitz reckons the 24-year-old's 'personality, charisma and natural speed' is perfect for Red Bull.

Demoting Klien to the 'Rookie' camp at Faenza, though, will not be done lightly, the energy drink magnate pledged. "In order to question his place in the team," the team owner admitted, "you must first also have a better alternative."
Click to expand...
 
'Button not worth $50m'


Eddie Jordan has cast doubt on wild reports that Jenson Button's bill to stay away from Williams could top $50 million. The ex-team owner said letting a top driver break a cast-iron formula one contract 'would cost good money. "But I can't believe it would be $50m."

EJ knows Grove based principal Sir Frank Williams well, and agreed that he is one of the hardest taskmasters in the grand prix Paddock. "Frank is not a person you tangle with easily," he said. "He sticks to his guns and is a tough negotiator."

In the end, perhaps Williams decided that forcing 25-year-old JB to fill a cockpit he didn't want to occupy was a bad idea. Or perhaps wheelchair-bound Sir Frank simply wearied of the Briton who debuted for Williams in 2000.

Eddie Jordan said: "If I was a team manager, I would be thinking 'how could I possibly sign a contract with Jenson Button when seemingly every contract he does sign he no longer wants to honour?' He must be very careful not to become tainted goods."
Click to expand...
 
F1 guys 'envious' - Rossi

MotoGP sensation Valentino Rossi has hit back at leading Formula One figures who doubt his ability to switch successfully from two to four wheels.

The Italian champion named countrymen Flavio Briatore, Jarno Trulli and Giancarlo Fisichella as leading 'sharp, even nasty' criticism of the 26-year-old, amid speculation that he may soon race a Ferrari.

'Maybe they are a bit envious of me,' Rossi wondered, 'with a will to demonstrate that the Formula One world and drivers are better than those of motorbikes.

'I think the opposite. Then again, maybe they're afraid of me.'

Actually, it's probably more to do with the fact that - for example - Giancarlo Fisichella has had his heart set on driving for the famous Italian marque since he first raced a go-kart at the age of eight.

In this vein, Rossi can admit that turning his back on his passion would be a very 'big risk.

'I have to decide in the first part of next year,' he added, 'and it is very likely that (switching to four wheels) would not be a success.

'It's a really strange thing - everyone talking about me, without me being in that world.'
Click to expand...

Ego=Ego++
 
Ferrari win '05 test race

If 2005 was a testing race, Ferrari would be world champion by now.

While every team rival of the scarlet Scuderia signed up for a voluntary 'gentleman's agreement' to limit testing to 30 days this year, Ferrari - with three races to go - has clocked up more than double that with 75 days so far.

Meanwhile, five teams - Renault, McLaren, Toyota, Williams and BAR - will reach their 30-day limit with respective two day tests after Brazil.

Following the back to back Japan-China grands prix, though, the agreement runs out and the winter period is basically ungoverned for testing.

By the way, Red Bull has used twenty five of its thirty days so far, Sauber 21, Jordan 15 and Minardi just six.
Click to expand...
 
Woohoo!! Live Qually :D :D


Live qualifying: Saturday 24 September 1645-1810 (ITV2)

Qualifying: Saturday 24 September 2330-0030 (ITV1)

Live race: Sunday 25 September 1720-1950 (ITV1)

Highlights: Sunday 25 September 2335-0035 (ITV1)

Highlights: Tuesday 27 September 0150-0240 (ITV2)

Race replay: Thursday 29 September 0205-0425 (ITV1)
 
Anyone think they've learnt their lesson? ;)

Oh...and as for the other 2 flyaway races - if Qualifying isn't live I'll do my normal thing of hiding the results of qualifying until it's shown on tv.

I'm nice like that. :D

Now writing the A1GP intro...there really is almost no technical info about the series around - it's shocking.

Oh..SKy 1 had a good preview to A1GP on last night. Shame the script was almost word for word off the A1GP web site..

Simon/~Flibster
 
I just want to add my two penneth worht of the two rounds of buttongate we have had

1) Last year when he wanted to get out of BAR for Williams, while it was admittedly partially his fault I also believe that his legal team at the time was in the wrong also, and with Williams supposedly having some kind of hold on him from when he first joined in 2000, I do not wholly blame Jenson for this and can be put down to a little inexpierence in an area which was potentially blown out of all proportion by the press ( as the press NEVER do that of course)

2) This year I think it was wholly within Jenson's rights to try and get out of it as the Williams team will UNDOUBTEDLY change a great deal for next year with Cosworth AND Bridgestone, and why should an up and coming star be forced to keep to a contract whihc has fundamentally changed since he signed it. IF Willaims was still with BMW then Button would have looked stupid to try and get out of it - and potentially could have ruined his career - but then who says he would have not left if BMW was still htere?

He was undoubtedly in the wrong place at the wrong time , but I think this year is no one's fault and well within his rights to extract him as he has successfully done now, and BAR have got a great team next year.

Undoubtedly Ruebens will be the harshest team mate but he wil also bring a lot to the team in development areas and testing ability that SATO just NEVER had. I actually think that BAR do have a dream team and I think it will only help them in the constructors championship in the next few years.

Always thought this year was going to be hard on them after the successes of 2004, even thought I still think they were punished unfairly earlier this year by the FIA, which really ruined their season, and they have made a reasonable ( but not brilliant) job from an awful position.

They could fight for podum's regularly next year, even maybe race wins if the Honda V8 is good enough.


PS I had a chuckle about the AMD/ Intel sponsorship posts earlier in this thread - however isnt Ferrari sponsored by AMD also? I am sure I have seen their logo on the rear wing end plate a few times.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom