I remember that article but Ferrari later refused or were unable to supply engines to Brawn after which he went to Mclaren.

And RB!

Well let's see what the result of this is.

Did Brawn released Rubens to Williams already? Because guys like Alonso and Kubica are still tied to their previous teams and I see no drama there.

Nick Fry really is the Richard Starkey of the now Mercedes team. Now that Brawn himself is tied in and Jenson has left he really is surplus to requirements. He brought no title sponsorship to Honda and instead gave loads of money to the spice girls promoter for 0 return.

In the funny way this world works sometimes had he been good at his job maybe Honda wouldnt have left, Jenson be WDC in a Honda and Merc wouldnt have bought the team out making him a fortune in the process. Dont worry if youre incompetant guys, it can pay off big!

Come on, give Ringo some credit. He even wrote a Bond Theme!

Hindsight messes things up a little in this case IMO... after Button won his string of races early in the season, his place in the team for 2010 should have been secured at that point. There seems to be alot of sour grapes currently, and god knows whos telling porkers or not... but the issue should have been settled when both Button (faultless driving) and BrawnGP (dominant car aspect) were delivering big time.

i don't remember giving that interview...

Post-season PR stuff?

Sponsors and tension between teams.

The sponsors of a team want to cash in on the man who won the championship. If the drivers leave after the last race of the season, sponsors, and the team miss out completely.

Also in the past there were tensions that involved McLaren. The early announcment of their deal with Alonso (and earlier Montoya) wasn't much appreciated by their previous teams. I would think Nick Fry's unhappiness has more to do with McLaren than with Button. Altough with just a bit more than one month left the timing in this case isn't an issue. But McLaren and their sponsors reap the greatest reward for PR purposes of Button's WDC, which is frustrating.

We could also see how sensible this issue is with Alonso attending this years Ferrari end of season sponsor event. Renault agreed for Alonso to attend the meeting, but notice the clothes Alonso wore in contrast to the other drivers..

Button has a history of making life difficult at contract renewal time remember the Honda back to Williams no I've changed my mind back to Honda mess a few years back ? Of course Williams were stupid to let him go in the first place

I just find it incredible that Mercedes have allowed the no "1" to be lost from being displayed on their cars for their first season back in F1 for a long time as a constructor, just for the sake of a few million.

The extra marketing potential over the next 12 months of showing off your no "1" car in advertising would have paid for that quite quickly. Who knows it may have been their only chance to have a no "1" on the car, just look at what happened with BMW, Honda and Toyota, all 3 were hardly strapped for cash or resources but never had the ultimate prize.

I always thought the way Nick Fry handled potential buyers when Honda was up for sale was very suspect, hidden agendas and all that.

I imagine after this foul up he will be quickly sidelined when Mercedes get their feet under the table, which is why the sour grapes are out.

For me Fry is still screwing up, saying publicly his first choice is Kimi. If they don't get him, straight away they have Heidfeld or whoever having to carry the label "2nd choice candidate".

Although in many ways that's obvious, it's not the same as McLaren, for example, who managed to court Kimi, saying he's a great driver and everything, but then pick Jense and have it all positive, even though they're not paying him that much.

I give Nick some credit for the Honda takeover, it wasn´t all Ross handywork.

Therefore Nick also should have som credit for the teams effort this year.

Except for Alonso in 2006.

Not £40m's worth though surely

Now Ive been proven wrong Id like to point out I was quoting someone from BBC F1

Oh, I didn't even realize myself that Button used a single chassis throughout the season, which is a very interesting fact and very impressive, thanks for pointing that out, I am just pedantic like that .

This is basically for marketing reasons I believe. To take everything out of the previous season, before starting a new one. And if you won the championship with a driver levaing, you surely wouldn't like to lose the number 1 immediately.

Interesing to learn that Kimi would be Fry's first pick. Maybe Kimi's why they didn't need to fight for Button?