SEPTEMBER 19, 2005

Jenson Button's price tag

Our spies tell us that Williams has sold Jenson Button his freedom and he will remain at BAR-Honda next year. This is reasonable enough, except that the figure of $18m which we have heard does not seem to be anywhere near the kind of money needed to do the deal.

We believe the figure is more likely to be in the region of $30m.

However it would not be a surprise if this deal was now completed and if that is the case we would expect some kind of announcement at the weekend in Brazil. There is no point in trying to hold on to the news, particularly as there appear to be leaks everywhere.

BAR-Honda wants to pay Button something in the region of $88m in the course of the next five years, so even allowing for the transaction with Williams Button is going to come away around $50m richer in the overall scheme of things.