"Jenson will not be doing anything at all for McLaren until the end of this calendar year," Brawn chief executive officer Nick Fry told AUTOSPORT. "And if he does, we will be looking on it very dimly.
"He didn't have any obligations to us for 2010, but there are issues with regards to the signing process on which we are in discussion with him at the moment.
"There are clear constraints on what Jenson can do between now and the end of the year, which we will be rigorously enforcing."
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/80225
It reminds me a little of when Jenson signed for Williams a few years ago only to backtrack.
Seems, admittedly from the outside, to me that Jenson has a weakness when it comes to negotiating contracts. I think comments like that taint Jenson's character and it seems that Jenson has been an extremely loyal employee, who even took a major pay cut and won a world championship for his team and is rewarded by being messed around when trying to renew his contract.
For his previous employer to be so public in this and a previous article at autosport shows to me that Mr Fry is an ass.
"It was 100 per cent my choice. For me, the move is because it's going to be a huge challenge to go up against Lewis in his environment. My goal since I was eight years old has been to win the world title, and I've done that now. Now I feel I need a new challenge."
The Briton denied the decision had been motivated by financial issues.
"No. I'm earning less than I would have at Brawn. I didn't move for money and everyone knows it. It's something new for me. I'll have to work very hard in the new situation I've put myself in, and I intend to do it.
Because he is the slowest of the three, changing to Mclaren is a win/win situation and better yet if he turns out to be very quick.
Additionally, we don't necessarily know his true motivations - he's been in F1 for a long time and now become world champ; perhaps he genuinely does want to pit himself again Hamilton and perhaps he actually fancies his chances. In that regard everyone is already saying he's on to a loser, so if he does lose then there was no expectation loss, on the other hand if he does come close or even beat Hamilton the all of a sudden he's a hero!
how do we know that he's the slowest of the three?
Message to Phil, Brawn says he is getting less, Jenson says he is getting less, there is not evidence that he is getting more, you can admit you were wrong, we won't laugh too much
heh heh
Autosport 17th November said:Autosport Link
Button had been negotiating a new Brawn deal since early in the season, with talks intensifying after he clinched the world championship in the Brazilian Grand Prix on October 18.
But the team was unwilling to offer more than a £4 million a year deal, around half of what Button's management is asking. Despite Mercedes taking over the team, chief executive officer Nick Fry emphasised that nothing had changed in the Button discussions.
"I'm sorry to say, it's not going to change anything," Fry told the BBC.
"We're running with a budget that is probably less than most of the others have spent and that's what Mercedes likes. In these financially constrained times, you do have to tighten your belt.
"We've had discussions with Jenson on what we think is a sensible salary and this is not going to change anything in that respect."