Formula-one driver Jenson Button has revealed his decision to leave BAR and join Williams next season was because of unhappiness over contract differences, including bonus payments.
The Englishman is in the middle of a tug of war between BAR and Williams over his future after both teams claimed to have binding contracts with him for next season.
Button wants to drive for Williams in 2005 and believes formula one’s contract recognition board (CRB) will allow him to leave BAR.
He feels Williams’s pedigree at the top of the sport is sure to bring him closer to his world championship dream but admitted his unhappiness at BAR initially convinced him to look elsewhere.
Button and BAR boss David Richards suffered a disagreement over bonus payments at the end of last season, which has yet to be resolved.
In his first press conference on the subject since news of his Williams move broke, Button revealed all was not well between him and Richards well before his surprise summer switch.
He said: ”There are many issues, that [bonuses] is one of them, I’m not going to say exactly what it is. Contractually, we had some differences, we had some issues. That was at the end of 2003. It hasn’t been resolved.
”One of the reasons why I want to move on is because I am not 100% happy at the team, and one of the reasons I’ve not been happy is that there are issues with the contract. We’ve tried to resolve them but to no avail.”
Button, who began his formula-one career with Williams in 2000, feels sure his move back to Grove will be rubber-stamped by the CRB over the next three weeks.
However, he has not been impressed with Richards’s claims that BAR have first call on his services.
”I don’t understand why he is saying that because we are pretty sure I am going to be racing for BMW-Williams next year,” he added.
”I think the CRB will understand our position and we will be there next year.
”I wouldn’t be going through all of this if I didn’t think it was possible. It’s never 100% certain but I’m pretty sure I’m going to be with BMW-Williams next year.
”I would rather it had been a lot easier, I don’t really like the way it has been handled at all. It’s not a nice position to be in. We had an agreement to be with BAR for two years. I honoured that agreement and I think I did a good job.
”I think I have been a big bonus for the team. I’m sure they’ll have a good year next year but for me I need to move on and be with a team that can challenge for the championship over the next two years.
”I’d rather it was a much more simple move and we hadn’t got into such a big argument about it.” — Sapa-AFP