Finally, it seems like Jenson Button has got what he wanted— a pay rise after sealing his first drivers’ title at the Brazilian Grand Prix last weekend.
With Brawn GP having no intention of parting ways with Button, it is believed that they have agreed to a £5 million pay rise for the champ. The contract negotiations will be sorted out before next month, reported The Times.
And with Ross Brawn stating that Button is not going anywhere the rumour mills have been doused for the time being.
The Briton has been linked to couple of top teams since securing his first world title. One of the rumours that made the rounds was of a British ‘Super Team’, featuring Button and Lewis Hamilton at McLaren, which was a possibility till the reports of Button getting a hike emerged.
According to the reports, Button had taken a £5 million pay cut — to £3 million a year — to race for Brawn this season after former team Honda pulled out in December. He even paid for most of his flights and hotel bills en route to the top of the drivers’ championship.
When asked if he was 100 per cent sure Button will stay, Brawn said: “You’re never 100 per cent but I’d say 99 per cent. Jenson’s obviously a great driver, so he’s got to be a target. We want Jenson to stay in the team, and I think we’ll find a solution.”
Jenson has a contract with us. But that contract is not the salary of a world champion, not the salary of a team that is in a much stronger position than it was 10 months ago. We’re working with Jenson to find a balance between what we can afford and what he feels
is fair for his status,” The Sun quoted Brawn, as saying.
Brawn further said that he expects to have the situation cleared within three weeks. “We’ve set a target of two weeks after the last race to get this concluded. But maybe it’ll happen before then,” Brawn said.
“We have a great relationship with Jenson and he has been a wonderful part of the team and his race performance has been exemplary,” he added.
The failure of Brawn GP bosses to reach an agreement early with Button came under heavy criticism. One of the critics was Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone.
“They are being a little bit arrogant considering how long they have been in Formula One. They should remember they have only been in the sport for 10 minutes really,” said Ecclestone.
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