Yep, that's the word that was announced yesterday. Apparently, there was a engine works deal in Button's contract which stipulates that there must be a works deal in place in order to retain his services. The extended Honda deal which was announced at the German GP was delayed just enough for Frank Williams to move. I believe Sir Frank Williams had put the stipulation there back in 2000 when Button drove for Williams.


Smart move on Sir Frank Williams and I am sure that the atmosphere at BAR will now be very tense for the remainder of the year.

 

actually frank williams made no move. it's was JB's manager that contacted williams.

 

Story from F1live.com....

-Following reports yesterday that BAR Honda's lead driver Jenson Button is leaving to join the Williams team in 2005, BAR Team Principal David Richards has made the following statement:

"We are absolutely astounded to hear that Jenson thinks that he is leaving BAR for Williams next season. Neither myself, nor any other member of the BAR team, has been contacted by Jenson to discuss this matter."

"Jenson is under contract with BAR for 2005, since we took up an option on his services only last month. At no time during the last few months has Jenson expressed anything other than his desire to continue working with BAR to achieve our collective goal of winning the World Championship."

Jenson Button joined BAR in 2003 from Renault and has seen his career transformed as a result. During the four and a half seasons of his F1 career he has scored 106 points, of which 78 have been in the last year and a half with BAR. In 2004 Button took his first F1 podium and he is currently lying third in the drivers' championship.

At the German Grand Prix, 23 July 2004, Honda confirmed their long- term commitment to BAR announcing the extension of their existing contract to at least 2007, with an even greater commitment of engineering resources. Their track record of 11 F1 World Championships clearly places them in an outstanding position to provide the resources to take the team and Button to the very top.



Richards continues: "It is our intention to enforce our current contractual position with Jenson. My duty is to the 400- strong workforce which has worked tirelessly over the past two seasons to give Jenson the car he has today; and to our partners, whose unfailing support and commitment to the team has contributed to the solid structure we now have in place."

"Unfortunately this is now a matter for the lawyers and I have every confidence that the legal process will confirm that yesterday's announcement has not only been premature but also invalid."

hmmmmmmm.......I hope that Button stays.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by EbboyPSi &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">hmmmmmmm.......I hope that Button stays. </TD></TR></TABLE>

i don't. the damage is already done.

 

nevermind........heres another story.

Fawk!!!

In a shock move, Jenson Button will leave BAR Honda at the end of the season and join Mark Webber on the racing front at BMW Williams it was announced late on Thursday evening. Button, under contract to BAR for 2005, makes the move back to the team that gave him his F1 race debut in 2000.

In his first season with Williams alongside Ralf Schumacher, the English driver collected just eight points for the team with a best result of fourth at the German Grand Prix at Hockenheim - a circuit he excelled at in 2004. Button was then loaned out to Renault for 2001/02 and after a disappointing spell with the French outfit, Button, 24, has and BAR Honda emerged as one of the main leaders of the pack chasing Ferrari champion Michael Schumacher in 2004.

The Briton hailed his second place behind Schumacher in Germany last month as his best drive and is placed third in the drivers' championship behind leader Schumacher and Ferrari's second driver Rubens Barrichello.

The move means an end to Jacques Villeneuve’s slim hopes of returning to F1 in 2005 with Williams are dashed. Antonio Pizzonia will also be super-disappointed not to be given the race seat alongside Webber in 2005, despite a strong showing in his race debut with the team at Hockenheim. The Williams test driver will be back in action next weekend at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

BAR meanwhile, will almost certainly promote Friday teat driver Anthony Davidson to the role of race driver with the squad.

 

Well, heres a picture. Hopefully he finishes the season strong. I'm guessing Davidson will be taking over. I'm actually excited to see Davidson step up if he does as hes been pulling impressive times in practice sessions all season.

Larkin who's happy he bought a BAR pit shirt at the US gran Prix and didn't buy any JB apparel.

&lt;----Laughing at Chris N.


Modified by EbboyPSi at 9:29 AM 8/6/2004

 

Cant believe it. I actually checked the calender when I saw it to see if it was April 1...

 

wow, what a backstabber. for Jensen Button.

 

So who do you guys think would be a good candidate(s) for his seat?

I think Anthony Davidson and David Coulthard.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by lanceh &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

i don't. the damage is already done.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yeah, I guess you are right but this is very shitty on Jenson Button's part. BAR Honda has worked so hard to come from the bottom of the formula one teams, to build such a great team that really pretty much centered around Jenson Button.

And all Jenson button does is give them a giant Donkey Punch

 

8/5/2004

https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=949849

 

WTF? wtfwtfwtfWTF???



Doesn't he have a performance-based contract, stating that if BAR Honda finishes in the top four (or five?) he has to stay???

Chris - who wonders if he can trade in his hat for one with NO driver on it.

 

Yeah, but BAR hadn't renewed it yet, seems to have run out just the other day, and Buttons manager took advantage of it. Seems like they found a loophole and exploited it. I'm still surprised by it though.

Brian

 

:finger cross:

Sato will r0ll Button for the years to come.

 

&lt;-- hopes webber r0lls the **** out of button next year.


i just don't understand why the JB team (himself and manager) see williams as a better place to be than bar for 05.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Brian*Blue95M3 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Yeah, but BAR hadn't renewed it yet, seems to have run out just the other day, and Buttons manager took advantage of it. Seems like they found a loophole and exploited it. I'm still surprised by it though.

Brian</TD></TR></TABLE>

mostly because they had to wait for Honda to renew the contract with them, which only happened like 2 weeks ago.. that does **** me off though.. owell, at least he won't do well driving the shitty cars Williams has been putting together lately..

 

Williams will be returning to a traditional style front wing next weekend, maybe when Jenson heard that he changed his mind

Brian

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by lanceh &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i just don't understand why the JB team (himself and manager) see williams as a better place to be than bar for 05.</TD></TR></TABLE>

That is exactly what I have been thinking. His first year at BAR he scored 17 points, which is more than he has scored with any other team. Hell this year alone and it's not finished yet, he is sitting on 61 points. He has scored more points this season than the other four combined! The switch just doesn't make sense.

 

"Frank Williams had 'less than an hour' to decide if he wanted Jenson Button as Mark Webber's 2005 team-mate, a source close to the F1 team said on Friday.

The source said the current BAR driver's agent John Byfield phoned Frank to explain that an 'exit' clause had been found but it had to be exercised quickly."

That second paragraph bothers me greatly. Hidden agenda... and they just waited for the right time to sneak out.

 

Damn Button! Mother Fu**er

Even if BAR does get him back... it will never be the same!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by PMTypeR &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Damn Button! Mother Fu**er

Even if BAR does get him back... it will never be the same!

</TD></TR></TABLE>
TRADER! I am going to throw away the minichamp diecast 1/43 of his
BAR005! What a waste of a souvenier from CDGP.
SATO better grow up for next year!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Titanium White &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">That is exactly what I have been thinking. His first year at BAR he scored 17 points, which is more than he has scored with any other team. Hell this year alone and it's not finished yet, he is sitting on 61 points. He has scored more points this season than the other four combined! The switch just doesn't make sense.</TD></TR></TABLE>

no doubt that BAR-Honda did a great job this year, and i'm supporting them whole heartedly. BUT....the truth is, McLaren and Williams both messed up this year and you can bet that they won't make that same mistake in 2005. (as shown with the MP4-19B and it's big jump in performance)

That's why it made sense for JB to make the move to Williams. He knows that they'll fix their issues be back to 2003 status. Also the same reason why JPM is still moving over to McLaren even though they had a crap season so far. It's because he knows they'll be back to their former state.

Anyways damage is done and it looks like Davidson will take over...which i don't think will be good for BAR's chances of winning a Drivers/Constructors championship. Davidson has the skills but definitely lacks the experience. (it took JB close to 4 years to reach his current form)

 

so whats happening to juan pablo

 

he's at McLaren next year

Brian

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by pr0ns74r &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">no doubt that BAR-Honda did a great job this year, and i'm supporting them whole heartedly. BUT....the truth is, McLaren and Williams both messed up this year and you can bet that they won't make that same mistake in 2005. (as shown with the MP4-19B and it's big jump in performance)</TD></TR></TABLE>

there is absolutely no information in the public domain to suggest that williams will be back to their usual form next season. my opinion is that mclaren has really pulled one out of their *** this year with the mp4-19b but i don't really believe williams will do the same that quickly.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by pr0ns74r &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">That's why it made sense for JB to make the move to Williams. He knows that they'll fix their issues be back to 2003 status. Also the same reason why JPM is still moving over to McLaren even though they had a crap season so far. It's because he knows they'll be back to their former state.</TD></TR></TABLE>

JPM is "still" moving to mclaren because he "still" has a contract with them and always has. there were very serious rumors that JPM had contacted bar a few months back about the possibility of a seat next season. back when the mp4-19 was blowing up every race.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by pr0ns74r &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Anyways damage is done and it looks like Davidson will take over...which i don't think will be good for BAR's chances of winning a Drivers/Constructors championship. Davidson has the skills but definitely lacks the experience. (it took JB close to 4 years to reach his current form)</TD></TR></TABLE>

this i agree with you on. i really wanted to see davidson at williams next year but i don't want to see him along side of sato. the team needs a leader and the pairing of sato/davidson does not give them that.

a big **** YOU to button who has turned his back on a team that was built for him. dare i say this ranks below JV's antics from last year.

lance ~ who is first and foremost a honda fan and finds it ironic that the issue of F1 Magazine that showed up in his mailbox just this week has a huge section of the issue devoted to the combination of button and bar.

**** YOU --&gt;