Confirmed: Button out of Monaco GP!

[TeddyG]

www.f1-live.com

"Whilst Jenson and the team are extremely disappointed that he will not compete today, we feel we have made the correct decision for his long-term well-being,” said Team Principal David Richards. “He is already looking forward to testing at Monza next week and the Canadian Grand Prix in two week’s time.”


This sucks... another GP where we can't see JV and JB compeate. But if it's for his well-being I guess they have to do it.

[Asp]

It does get worse - this is just hear'say; but I heard this on another chat room:

BAR boss Dave Richards has admitted that there is a chance that the team will not be able to race in Sunday’s Monaco GP after a court order was granted for the seizure of their cars.

I'll try and get more info ASAP

[TeddyG]

Can't they still fly in Sato or Davidson to race the car??? Are they allowed to start from the pit lane as Jenson would have even though he did not qualify on Saturday?

[JonesF1]

I already posted my thoughts in the Button Crashed thread but ill say it again: Sato or Davidson should have been in Monaco ready to race. Thats one of the reasons why teams have test drivers! Its not hard to see why BAR is still a midfield team.

And supposedly a 4 year old court battle is just now rearing its ugly head. 3 cars may have been confiscated so BAR might not race at all.

[TeddyG]

WHATTTTTTTTTTTTT????? This is getting pathetic now! Are you sure Asp???

[DNQ]

Sato and Davidson have not qualified for the race, and therefore can not join the race at all.

[TeddyG]

Yes exactly Jones especially if they don't even have their finances enough in order that they could be barred from the GP!!!! This is crazy! Any news Asp?

[TeddyG]

Originally posted by DNQ
Sato and Davidson have not qualified for the race, and therefore can not join the race at all.

But Button didn't qualify either and he would have been allowed to start from the pits...so why not somebody else? Or do you have to take part in at least one of the qual sessions? i.e. Friday or Saturday

[*formula3*]

correct me if i´m wrong but i think a team has to name their drivers BEFORE saturday quals...bar didn´t name sato or davidson so they can´t start

[Asp]

You have to qualify in one session to take part in the race. It's also the driver that qualifies, not the car as in some American series.

Sorry, my source does appear to ahve fallen asleep. It was just hear'say though as I said. I'll keep pestering him though until he tells me where he heard it from

[rdjones]

Originally posted by Asp
It does get worse - this is just hear'say; but I heard this on another chat room:



I'll try and get more info ASAP

I have just found this link from another forum http://rack.sportnetwork.net/main/s169/st26029.htm

I have also just found this statement from BAR, it was issued yesterday:-

B•A•R can confirm that France Corbeil, of a company named S.A.M. Partnership Production Group International (PPGI), has obtained a court order in Monaco to seize three of the team’s Grand Prix cars.

Corbeil’s claim against the team goes back five years, but it was only earlier this year that the current management team were made aware of it when he forwarded a demand for commission based on a sponsorship arrangement with former B•A•R sponsor Teleglobe.

B•A•R believes Corbeil’s claim to be baseless and when it was first presented to the Monaco courts several weeks ago it was rejected.

The claim was re-presented with additional information on Wednesday afternoon, just prior to a national holiday weekend when all the courts are closed. As a result, the team were not made aware of the action and did not have any opportunity to respond, therefore Judge Philippe Narmino granted Corbeil a seizure order in a private capacity i.e. without the assistance of the court or the police.

B•A•R is confident that, when it has the opportunity to present the situation to the courts on Monday morning, the seizure order will be lifted immediately.

B•A•R is also seeking legal advice from its lawyers regarding possible actions against France Corbeil for defamation/commercial slander.

Interesting stuff

[TeddyG]

Well that one just says maybe after the GP they could be taken Asp was taking about that the cars could be seized BEFORE the start of the race!...this can't be true.

[Asp]

Here's the link I was after:
http://www.planet-f1.com/Home/story_11903.shtml

It had changed recently though, and there isn't all bad news on the front:

However, the order granting the seizure of the BAR cars is only in a ‘private capacity’, which means it does not involve either the police or the courts
In a statement released on Saturday night, BAR insisted that the claim was ‘baseless’ and added they were considering taking legal action against France Corbeil for defamation and commercial slander.

thanks rd for getting it first

[Asp]

Originally posted by TeddyG
Well that one just says maybe after the GP they could be taken Asp was taking about that the cars could be seized BEFORE the start of the race!...this can't be true.

Here's the key quote:
There is a chance we will not race," acknowledged Richards on Saturday.

Certainly looks like, at the minute, that nothing will happen though - although it will spill over into next week when BAR go back to court.

[TeddyG]

Nahh I doubt they would take the cars before the race. As then BAR would have some real firepower going into the courts against whoever these guys are that are suing them. Not to mention they'd **** Bernie off as well...and they DO NOT wanna do that!

[Asp]

Now I've understood that quote, that threw me especially as I was told at the same time as Button being withdrawn, I will link it to http://tentenths.com/forum/showthrea...threadid=38768 where we've already discussed it!

[TeddyG]

Well back on to the topic of the thread...does anyone else think that this sucks that we won't get to see JB and JV fight it out yet again!...

In this season so far Jacques has only really been allowed to compeate in two GP's...Australia where both BAR's chose the wrong tires and so finished 9th and 10th and then Brazil which was a wet nightmare, where JV landed 6th and Button crashed out mid-way. This marks the 5th time out of 7 races that we won't get to see them go head to head fairly...I think this should be one of the best driver battles this year but we are all missing out due to bad luck!
Granted it is for JB's safety, still it gets to me!

[Ralf's Girl]

It's a shame for Jenson, but there's a limit to what he could have done starting from the back anyway. Safety first - we'll just have to wait a couple of weeks to see him beat Villeneuve.

[jetsetter]

I think it's a common sense decision to rule Button out of the race as he's obviously still feeling the effects of the massive shunt on Sunday but i have to question BAR's management with the fact that they had no test driver in Monte Carlo.

[TeddyG]

exactly jetsetter both BAR's should be starting today...Button or not.

[Blue]

BAR screwed up big time again. Sato should have been there and replaced Button on saturday. When i heard Button was hospitalized, I thought he would not race. Dave Richard could guess it easily too. Medical doctors dont want to let the driver race if he is not 100% fit. if they allow him to race and someting happenes to him, it is going to be the doctors responsibility. so they tend to be conservative.

[Lee Janotta]

Even without Ant or Sato being around, how can they not find _someone_ with an up-to-date superlicense in frikking Monaco?!

And actually, there is precedent for bringing in a replacement driver at the last moment, if you can get the consent of the other team bosses to allow your driver in.

Grumpy 'ol mister Stoddart would probably try and sink such plans, though. Every car not on the grid is one spot closer to the points for his machines.

[golem]

You reckon Lee? I doubt he'd block it somehow. Though I do think they should have named someone yesterday because it WAS a pretty nasty shunt and there's more to the team than Button. (Which may sound nasty but remains somewhat true.)

Davidson, as the longer serving of the two testers at BAR really should have been allowed to take the seat.

Regardless, at least Button is fit enough to have been considerable for the seat.