Ecclestone slams Brawn amid Button dispute
The 29-year-old Briton is said to be unwilling to take the number 1 to the team's 2010 car in the absence of a substantial pay increase, having agreed to slash his retainer amid the management buyout last winter.
Reports of the disagreement had reportedly fuelled McLaren's interest in signing Button, but Goddard told the Mail on Sunday newspaper that he now expects a deal with Brawn to be reached within weeks.
"I understand the team are about to make us an offer and, as previously
stated, Jenson wants to stay with Brawn," he said.
The newspaper added that the offer is "close to" the amount Button is seeking: 8m pounds sterling.
Team boss Ross Brawn agrees that Button deserves a pay-rise.
"(His current) contract is not the salary of a world champion, not the salary of a team that is in a much stronger position than it was 10 months ago," he told BBC radio's Sportweek program.
Asked if he is 100 per cent sure Button will be driving next year's Brawn, he added: "You're never 100 per cent, but I'd say 99 per cent."
Brawn said he aims to have the situation clarified by mid November.
 |
| Ross Brawn |
10/24/09 (GMM) Bernie Ecclestone has hit out at Brawn GP for not sewing up a deal with F1's new world champion Jenson Button.
Button, 29, has expressed his desire to stay with the Brackley squad in 2010, but is holding out for a return to the salary he was contracted to receive this year: about $13m.
To aid the Honda management buyout, the Briton agreed to slash his pay to about $5m, and also paid for most of his own travel and even laundry cleaning bills throughout his winning campaign.
So far, Brawn chiefs Ross Brawn and Nick Fry are refusing to accept Button's demands.
"They are being a little bit arrogant considering how long they have been in formula one," said Ecclestone, the sport's chief executive.
"They should remember they have only been in the sport 10 minutes really," he is quoted as saying by the Mirror.
Button's manager Richard Goddard agrees that the situation, now spreading into rumors of a high-income switch to McLaren, is entirely Brawn's fault.
"A lot of quality seats may still be available so it's down to Brawn to make us an offer," The Sun newspaper quotes him as saying.