JULY 18, 2002

Button goes to Sauber

Jenson Button made a very quiet visit earlier this week to the Sauber factory in Hinwil.

JENSON BUTTON made a very quiet visit earlier this week to the Sauber factory in Hinwil, to take a look at the Swiss team's facilities. Button is talking to a variety of teams about a possible drive next year as it looks more and more likely that he will be booted out of Renault to make way for Flavio Briatore's protege Fernando Alonso. With the top three teams full up for next year the best available choice for Button would be Sauber and there is talk that Nick Heidfeld will be moving on, making a gap for the team to fill. In recent years Sauber has preferred to hire young (cheap) drivers but this has on occasion had a detrimental effect as opportunities to score points have been lost because of the inexperience of the drivers involved.

With Sauber now building a new state-of-the-art windtunnel in Hinwil, the team is in the position to offer Button a good option for the 2003 and 2004 seasons.

The English driver is expected to go back to Williams at some point in the future.