Allen: Brawn believes Button breached contract
November 19, 2009 by SJ Skid
Filed under People & Events
James Allen has a new blog post up that really puts all the Button/Brawn/Mercedes dealings into terrific perspective. It may also answer my questions about what’s really behind the Button to McLaren move.
Here are some key parts of Allen’s piece, but it’s so good I really encourage you to go there and take a look. [And then come back here and discuss.]
The bitterness is starting to come out now in the aftermath of Jenson Button’s shock move to McLaren on a three year contract.
According to Ross Brawn, who has actually been trying to have a holiday this week while all of this has been going on, Button breached the terms of his contract when he visited the McLaren factory last Friday mid-way through the negotiations over a new deal. At the time it is now being suggested, the deal on the table was for £8 million with a back-end deal based on performance which could have lifted his total take to £12m, just short of what Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso earn. The difference is that their salaries are more fixed, with less performance points.
After Button visited McLaren and made it public, with quotes from his manager Richard Goddard about Button wanting to be ‘”valued”, Ross Brawn made his feelings clear to Button in a phone call on Sunday. He withdrew the offer on the grounds of breach of contract, he told Bob McKenzie in the Express. “I was very disappointed at the way things finished up with Jenson,” said Brawn.
The door was not closed, but positions had been taken and Button then fixed his attentions on McLaren and concluded a deal relatively quickly, certainly in time for it to cast a shadow over Mercedes’ announcement of its takeover of Brawn on Monday. The announcement of that – via a hastily arranged conference call with German and British media on Monday morning – suggests that Brawn and Mercedes felt the Button defection was imminent and wanted to get their positive news in first.
The Button to McLaren rumours were swirling that day, taking the shine off the announcement and McLaren was able to turn its deal with Button around quickly and get it announced so that it dominated the news agenda and cast McLaren as the all British champion team against the German team without a winning driver. Mercedes boss Norbert Haug has hinted optimistically that there could be surprises in the driver line up, which has got people thinking that he might mean Michael Schumacher, but Brawn has squashed that one today, “When I last spoke with Michael. I did not get the impression that he wants to make a long-term comeback,” said Brawn. Schumacher is contracted to Ferrari and it is staying that way.
[snip]
So the notion of Button being pushed out by Mercedes, which I have never believed, is receding, as is the idea that Button went to McLaren because the financial offer from Brawn/Mercedes was derisory. The belief he would get a more competitive car and the fresh challenge if beating Hamilton are high on his list of reasons.
I still have my doubts about Button’s reasons for the switch. But if there was a harsh conversation between him and Ross Brawn, perhaps Button thought he had burned a bridge and jumped to McLaren in a bit of a desperation move, albeit a really good move by most accounts.
At the least, it does feel like what really went on in the negotiations is beginning to drip out.
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Was reading some Jenson quotes as the move isn’t money orientated, instead being a new challenge. This may be partially true but I cannot help but feel that he has been misguided by his advisors who tried to play-off Brawn against McLaren for financial gain.
Good on Ross to withdraw the offer, which really forced Jenson’s hand and it sounds as if its cost Button a few million. What a difference a year makes.
So the hunt is on for the other Brawn driver, with that sort of contract on offer and a successful season, its gotta be Kimi.
You’re forgetting Ralf’s brother. [Gags on the rumor.]
Buttons managment does have a bit of a history of making a hash of contract negotiations, remember all that business between Williams and BAR.
The thing to watch will be if Button fires his manager in a couple of months. If he stays then the McLaren switch was what he really wanted due to the car etc. If he goes then it’s cos Button has just lost money.
Saying this as a Kubica fan, but if, as Allen suggests, Bobby K ends up at Mercedes GP for 2010, it would be quite a shock.
If Renault leaves F1, would they have to pay off Kubica? If so, he would be in a similar position to Kimi, just at a lesser level. Would this mean he could potentially drive for Mercedes at a fraction of what any other competitive driver would cost?
I say good riddance…what is all this commotion over Jenson Button about? I’m mean come on, you would think this guy was worth half a second on the track. He’s a break even driver. You’re not going to loose time with him but he certainly isn’t worth the few tenths that the top drivers bring to the table. If he’s available and it makes sense, fine, sign him up, but all this commotion over someone who is clearly just a “good” driver seems nonsensical. Especially when you’ve got one of those “worth a few tenths” drivers out there. Pay Kimi the 8mil with the 4mil backend you were going to give Button, just know that you’ll probably end up having to payout that backend money…but that’s the point right? We should all let Button drift away into his self-made #2 nothingness… and get on with everything already…and by everything I mean SIGN KIMI ALREADY!!!
Button really needs new management, his poor relations with teams and the horrible way he left Williams and now possibly Brawn is the thing I remember most about him.
As for Button claiming he wants to be challenged, I dont think he could go for a bigger one. Damon Hill had a massive undertaking after his title (joining Arrows), and now Button wants to push himself against Team Hamilton.
The media is being very harsh on Button regarding the McLaren move, most outlets are saying he wont be able to keep up with Hamilton and he will be embarrased. Some say its because Lewis will have a clear number one status, some just say it because they dont think he is as good a driver as him.
I think its because of both reasons.
Button should retire, and take Chello wth him. His reputation of being an ass when it comes to negotiations is becoming legendary.
But one other thing I do remember about Button is that he took a massive pay cut to stay with Brawn. That sat well with me and indicated something positive about his character.
Button and his management would have been very conscious of their past reputation with regards to contract negotiations, and just how bad this could look. That means they either have no class when it comes to such things, or their hand must have been in some way forced…
Can anyone tell me why a team would dither over contract negotiations with their championship-winning driver? A driver who (to the contrary of what Brawn management has recently said) showed great loyalty to this team during the *years* when the car was the worst of the grid, then took a 60% pay cut this year (and paid his own travel expenses; how much did it cost him to fly to all those international destinations and stay in all those hotels?).
Brawn are having a hissy-fit because Button made them look stupid. Maybe they thought they could play silly waiting games, because they don’t rate Button very highly as a driver (whisper it, but I can’t blame them for this). I have a feeling their claims to match his salary were disingenuous, too (i.e. last-minute ante-upping, because the Merc deal was finalised). But surely this is not the way to handle your WDC-winning driver who stuck with you through the tough times, complained remarkably little and just got on with it?
I think Button was very loyal; he made big sacrifices to keep things going, delivered for his team, yet they d**ked him around for too long in the end. Would any of us choose to stay with our employer under those circumstances?