Category: Motorsports

Jenson Button, 2009 Formula One World Champion, is trying to work who he wants to do his Sunday driving with in 2010. Under usual circumstances you’d reckon you might stick with the guys at BrawnGP, who pretty much served a drivers title to you on a silver platter, in part due to a very, very well prepared car.

But, this is F1 and so is anything but normal. Rumours were sent into overdrive on Friday when Button toured McLaren’s factory at Woking in Surrey. McLaren’s F1 boss, Martin Whitmarsh, played tour guide, adding further spice.

Like a lot of other BrawnGP employees Button signed over his services in 2009 for bugger all money (well, bugger all for F1, anyway). Now, as the reigning champ, he reckons he should get a bit more. Trouble is, it seems BrawnGP think he is asking for a lot more.

Unsurprisingly Button’s manager, Richard Goddard, reckons his client’s claims are fair and reasonable, “As I’ve said many times before, Jenson wants to drive a car which is capable of winning the next world championship.

“We’ve been talking about possible terms for 2010 with Brawn for months and we’re not being difficult or unreasonably expensive in our demands for Jenson. In fact we’ve given up quite a lot of negotiating ground in our discussions with them.”

However, more recent news suggests that maybe McLaren weren’t as forthcoming as first thought, as Goddard has since gone into arse covering mode, “Jenson has the utmost respect for boss Ross Brawn and the team.

“Talks have certainly not broken down. He has been incredibly loyal to the team for many years which is why the decision is so hard.”

Hmm, contract negotiations through the media. Don’t you just love it!

[Source: guardian.co.uk | World Car Fans | Pic: BrawnGP]

The BBC website has an excellent review of the 2009 Formula One season. Included is commentary on all the teams and drivers from the 2009 season. Although, notably, Nelson Piquet Jr is absent from the drivers’ list.

Former team owner Eddie Jordan reviews the team performances, while former F1 driver and BBC expert comments man Martin Brundle covers the drivers.

The drivers have also been asked a series of simple questions and you actually do get a bit of an insight into their personalities by the way they answer the same questions.

[Source: BBC | Pic: JensonButton.com | Thanks to Sean for the tip]

Australia’s Mark Webber came desperately close to securing a season’s best F1 award this year by finishing equal first with Red Bull Racing teammate Sebastian Vettel in the DHL Fastest Lap Trophy award. Both drivers claimed three fastest laps in season 2009, however, Vettel was awarded the trophy on countback by completing three second fastest laps, to Webber’s one.

Webber went into the final race at Abu Dhabi ahead of Vettel and the young German had to wait until the second last lap to tie with Webber and force the countback.

“I am very pleased. It means a lot to me to have my achievements recognised in this way. I wanted to post the fastest lap of the race, which is why, just before the finish, I really put my foot to the floor again.” The 22-year-old Vettel added with a laugh, “It was more than worth it.”

[Source: DHL Fastest Lap & Formula1.com]

It’s only a few hours until the start of the inaugural Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. The Yas Marina circuit is very spectacular, so to help get you in the mood, here’s a gallery of images courtesy of Red Bull Racing.

And with Red Bull cars starting the race from P2 and P3, let’s hope tomorrow sees the addition of another Mark Webber gallery!

UPDATE 3 November: A new Race gallery has been added at the end of this article. There’s now over 50 high res images available, with all accessible in wallpaper-friendly 2000px super images by clicking on each picture.