Jenson Button was quite clearly the happiest man in Interlagos yesterday
after negotiating his release from his 2006 Williams contract - and the
media had plenty of fun trying to guess just what it cost him.
“The last few days have been the high point of my season,” the 25 year-old
Englishman said after it was confirmed that he will be partnered for the
foreseeable future at BAR by Rubens Barrichello. “After resolving this issue
with Frank Williams it is unbelievable how much more relaxed I feel. Now I
am able to focus on what is important.
“I’m ecstatic that we have sorted the situation. The contract was between
Frank and me and that was how we sorted it, between the two of us. Trust me,
it hurts.
“It was not a nice situation to be in, but I’d like to say thank you to
Frank because we were able to stop it before it went any further. Obviously
when it all finally happened I was a very happy person. We all knew what we
wanted, and it’s best for all of the people involved. I’m so excited about
the future. This is where it starts with BAR Honda. It’s not been cheap for
me, but I’m sure it will be worth it for the future.”
Button said he is very excited about the future, and of his new team-mate he
said: “He has a lot of experience and brings a lot to the team. He’s a very
capable driver and it’s good to have a new challenge. Off the circuit I
think we will work really well together, while on it we will be deadly
rivals.”
BAR were not able to make any comment on their third driver or test drivers
for 2006, however. Team principal Nick Fry said that they would do
everything they could to help Takuma Sato with his future, which suggests
that the Japanese driver will not feature in the line-up but is most likely
seeking a race drive elsewhere. GP2 race winner and BAR young driver
programme member Adam Carroll could feature highly in any plans.
