Former BAR Boss blames Jenson Button’s management for Williams move fiasco
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Jenson Button
Jenson Button had made his Formula 1 debut in 2000 with Williams, partnering Ralf Schumacher. However, he was always going to be replaced at the team, as they had wanted to take Juan Pablo Montoya, and he was only an intermittent option for the team, and a dip in form meant that Montoya was announced as his replacement midway through the season, while he was sent on a two-year loan to Benetton, later rebranded as Renault.
In 2002, despite Button outperforming his teammate over the course of the season, it was announced that he will be replaced by Fernando Alonso for 2003. So in 2003, he went to BAR Honda, which later become Honda, and on being purchased by Brawn, became Brawn GP, and in 2009 with the team, he won his first and only world championship.
But in 2005, Button had tried to re-join Williams, but the move was blocked. Button signed a pre-contract for 2006, but eventually decided to stay at BAR. Williams released him from the contract, but only for compensation of about 18 million. In 2004, after his first move to Williams failed, Button changed his management team.
David Richards: Jenson Button’s management was ‘self-interested’
As reported by PlanetF1, on the ‘Beyond the Grid’ podcast, David Richards said: “I look back and Jenson, as a young racing driver – so often is the case and he more than most, I would say – was very badly advised and influenced by management. He had management around him that were self-interested. They didn’t think of him first, nor did they look at the bigger picture.”
He added that bad management was often a problem for young drivers: “I see this on so many occasions, that drivers who have lost their way or lost big opportunities because they have trusted management who have not really had their best interests at heart and had different views of things.”
“You rely on lawyers and managers and people around you to make big decisions for you. But if they are not professional and not competent and they don’t behave appropriately, you end up in a big mess – as we ended up with then.”
David Richards also said that Button’s management did not consult BAR at all about their efforts to engineer Button’s move to Williams, and BAR fought in court over the validity of their option to retain the driver – and they won the case. Richards said that at the time, it had affected his relationship with Button, but they are on good terms now, and also added that he completely blames Button’s management.
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Aniket Tripathi
(1002 Articles Published)