Button finally gets his 2009 prize from Brawn

Duke

Duke

Duke

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What an epic contract clause to have :cool:

Jenson Button came close to taking Brawn GP to court, it has been reported, after his former employers attempted to renege on a deal struck early on last year regarding the British star's prize should he win the F1 2010 World Championship.

Prior to the beginning of the campaign and in the wake of the sudden and unexpected withdrawal of parent company Honda that left the Brackley-based outfit fighting for its very survival, Button agreed to a significant cut in salary in order to help keep the team afloat.

In exchange for that, and unbeknown to the outside world until now, a clause was inserted into his contract, to the effect that 'in the event that the driver wins the championship at any time during the term, the company shall transfer...ownership of one chassis of the type driven by the driver during that winning season'.

However, according to the Mail on Sunday, after the 30-year-old fulfilled his part of the bargain in clinching the coveted drivers' crown, Brawn GP subsequently refused to keep its side, with an e-mail to Button in January of this year claiming that 'we have no spare 2009 chassis, as limited quantities were manufactured for the 2009 season for cost reasons'.

It is understood that six BGP 001 chassis' were built last year, but Button - who switched teams from what is now Mercedes Grand Prix to McLaren-Mercedes over the winter - was initially only offered a replica of his title-winning car, a poor substitute that the Frome-born ace argued would lack the 'special and unique' value of owning one of the cars he raced to the laurels.

However, following the filing of legal action by Button's company JB Next BV in London's High Court in April, Mercedes has belatedly agreed to honour its initial promise and give Button one of the cars he drove last year, with a spokesman for the nine-time grand prix-winner revealing that 'we have arrived at an amicable resolution, so there will no longer be any court action over this'.
Click to expand...

http://www.silverstone.co.uk/news/l...aten-Brawn-with-legal-action-to-get-09-prize/
 
did he crash last year, would be kind of funny if they gave him a written of car.

well deserved though. took the massive pay cut and had dedication in teh team for years. Disappointed they were trying to wriggle there way out of it.
 
I'm pretty sure he used the same chassis all year? I thought they only made three and Barichello used two.
 
Really glad he got his car. It will mean far more to him that it will to the team, and he deserves to have the car he drove to the title sat in his collection :)
 
Well, it doesn't say they offered him a 'working' replica. And even if they did then the issue is that Jenson knows for a fact that they still have the car he finished the season with, it's just that they want to keep it for themselves instead of give it to him.

Good on him, I suspect a lot of former world champions will be quite jealous :)
 
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