Button to get $22M severance from Honda

Jenson Button smiling all the way to the bank

Jenson Button will walk away with a massive $22 million payoff when Honda quits Formula One. Button signed a new £8m-a-year, three-year deal just a few weeks ago.

But his Japanese paymasters want to renegotiate the contract and have left him free to talk with other teams.

Honda’s chairman and chief executive Takeo Fukui confirmed: “We had a deal with Button and we are going to restart the talks to undo that contract."

Team chief Ross Brawn added: “If Jenson gets an opportunity we will sit down and see what the situation here is and what opportunity he has got.

“If we can keep him here we will be delighted but we also understand that it is very difficult for an F1 driver to miss a season — unlike engineers.

“If the team gets shut down, I’ll go fishing. That’s my favorite hobby anyway."