Reigning Formula One champion Jenson Button's future remains uncertain after Mercedes-Benz secured a controlling interest in his Brawn GP team today.
Reigning Formula One champion Jenson Button's future remains uncertain after Mercedes-Benz secured a controlling interest in his Brawn GP team today.
The German manufacturer will buy 75.1 per cent of Brawn GP in partnership with an Abu Dhabi investment company, with the team to be rebranded as Mercedes Grand Prix and based in Brackley.
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The 2009 Formula One drivers' champion remains in contract talks with his current team over a new deal and while chief executive Nick Fry said he and Brawn would prefer Button to remain, he admitted financial constraints may prevent that.
"We have had discussions with Jenson about what we think are a sensible salary," Fry told Radio Five Live.
"This (takeover by Mercedes) is not going to change anything in that respect. The decision at the end of the day on drivers will be made by Ross principally with my help. We're going to continue to run the team and it will be our decision on who is going to drive the car."
Brawn and Button forged a close relationship in the 2009 season when Button claimed the drivers' title while the team won the constructors' championship. Despite their success it has been widely reported that the new manufacturer has already signed a deal to make German driver Nico Rosberg their new number one, with Button tipped to join McLaren as he seeks a salary increase.
Fry for one is keen for that scenario to be avoided and added:u00a0"I hope Jenson is still with us next season. We've been together for a good few years now and we have succeeded in winning the world championship together and we want Jenson to be with us.
"But we have to recognise that F1 is not divorced from the rest of the world. We have worked within a budget (and) if we spend in one area then we cannot spend in another area. The reason we survived as a team was that we operated in a sensible way and operated within our means and we're going to continue to do the same," Fry said.
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