Unbuttoned no longer...

[Minardi fan]

From Planet F1, although given their earlier stupidity this could be a story about Taki Inoue...

Button's future looking clear
Jenson Button's Formula One future has been given a
boost in France.

Button's team chief Frank Williams admitted he did
not think Champ Car star Juan Pablo Montoya would
be released from his contract.

Williams looked certain to replace 20-year-old Button
with Montoya if he could secure the services of the
Colombian for next season.

But Montoya, currently defending his FedEx title in the
predominantly United States-based series, is
contracted to Chip Ganassi's team until the end of the
2001 season.

"Juan is under contract for a further year with Chip,"
said Williams. "It is up to Chip if he decides to release
him - but I am sure he won't do."

Ganassi, along with engine partner Toyota, wants to
hang onto Montoya who he described as 'probably the
best driver in the world' after his victory in the
Indianapolis 500 at the first attempt last month.

Paddock speculation at this weekend's French Grand
Prix at Magny-Cours suggest that Frome-born Button,
who has impressed in his rookie year, will be retained
by Williams.

The latest development is good news for Britain's
youngest ever Formula One driver especially as his
other options could be diminishing with the driver
rumour mill moving into top gear.

Button, who is on a five-year rolling contract with
Williams, was being linked with a loan deal with Jordan
should Heinz-Harald Frentzen replace Johnny Herbert
at Jaguar next season.

But Jordan's chances of keeping Frentzen despite the
lure of Jaguar's millions were boosted when they
announced a major engine deal for next year.

[MichaelC]

Good. I'm glad about that. But I'm not sure you sound like you are, MF...

[Minardi fan]

I'm indifferent to young Button's future now... I'd rather see Montoya or Junqueira in the Williams but what will be will be. Young Jenson's seat at Williams looks pretty safe.

[Sharky]

Don't ask me why I know this but believe me. Frank Williams has an Ace under his sleeve for the Montoya situation and you'll see him driving alogside Schu Jr. next year. I'm just going to explain it this way. Frank Williams is smart enough to know better than letting a very talented driver leave for 3 years and loose every chance to get a hold of him during those 3 years. I'm pretty sure that there's a clause in Montoya's contract which says that if Frank wants him he must go.....paying damage compensation to Chip of course!...they must be negotiating how much money Chip will get.

Food for though: Frank Williams doesen't send his son (and scout) to the US to see Montoya race (including the Indy race) just so he can come back and say "He's ready for F1 and it will be great to see him in the year 2002 driving for us...BTW....it's a shame that we "own" him but we can't have him just yet". He arrived from the US and told Frank "Dad, he's ready. Start the negotiations".

[Rated R]

There's no A, Sharky--Williams has to pay the fine if he wants Montoya back--it's that simple. Why do you think Ganasi keeps extoling HPM--"the best driver in the world",etc...? Because he DOES want Williams to brake the contract. It's (as usual) all about the money!
Moreover, publicity-wise Button (assuming he performs)is much more suitable for the team than Montoya.
Finally, what if he turns out to be just another Andretti or Zanardi. Recently only JV has made a smooth transition but to the best team (which Williams is arguably not at present) and after extensive testing on virtually all F1 European circuits.
To sum it up--the smart move for Williams, I think.

[Sharky]

Well. Just to add something up. Watching today's qualifying the local station had Elizeo Salazar as an invited commentator. Now, he raced in this year's indy 500 and he said that he had a talk with Montoya in which he told him that he wanted to race in F1 in the year 2001 and that Williams and Ganassi were just taking care of the final details as the contract is almost a done deal. But yoo know how things are in F1. Frank Williams can keep saying that it's up to Ganassi and Ganassi can say that he owns montoya but until we don't see a contract signed saying that he'll defenetily drive for Ganassi or Williams one should not believe what team owners say.

But now that you mention it Rated R. I would like to comment on the Andretti and Zanardi situation. About Andretti....well he has never been a good driver. Not in CART and certanly not in F1. I mean, he has raced for like 14 years in CART with only one championship and 38 wins (I think) out of about 300 races. Those are not exactly the statistics of a champion. Furthermore, during his trip to F1 he thought that he could just take the concorde on Thursday. Practice, qualify and race and take the flight back to the US on sunday afternoon and that's not how things work in F1. As for Zanardi. I recall that I didnt see him very happy about leaving cart and going to F1 at the end of 1998 and then it was pretty clear that he was unmotivated.....it seemed as if he was going to F1 because that's something he had to do, not something that he wanted to do...why?. One of the main reasons why he moved there because his wife had told him that she wanted her son to grow up in Italy and in order to be close to his family he had to race in europe. It also appered to me that he was going there because he wanted to "exorcise his F1 demons" and proove that he could perform well there. Add to that the fact that he went from the friendly climate of the ganassi team and the warm public and media of CART to the high pressure world of Williams F1, a public that wasn't exactly wild about him and a media that was already looking for his replacement and claming for his blood after very few races. Not to mention the fact that he raced in a very uncompetitive car.

But let's not forget where does Montoya come from. He didn't grow up racing in the US. He didn't race in Indy Lights or anything like that. He grew up in Europe. He raced Vauxhall Lotus, British F3 and F3000...not to mention over 8000 miles of F1 testing experience. He has always been F1 bound. His move to CARt was just to put him "on hold" for a while.

About the publicity. I don't think that's a real concern. After all there aren't many British sponsors for williams so for Michelin, BMW, Compaq and Allianz the nationality of the driver doesen't really matter. And besides, Button is really not that popular outside of Europe. At least over here in america (north, central and south) his name is hardly ever metioned during the race broadcast. In fact, in today's qualifying transmition he was only mentioned once and his name was followed by "...there has been a lot of speculation regarding his Williams drive for next year...."

Note: I have nothing against Button. He's a great driver but I think that he still needs a lot more miles to show his real potential and that he made the jump to F1 too soon but I have no doubt that some years from now he could become a championship challenger but for now, and after what I've seen him do in F3K and CART, Montoya is the best driver for the job.