BAR boss questions Renault's will to win

BAR won the race to sign Button after the 22-year-old was told by Renault that his services would not be required for next year. Richards said he had been "amazed" when he heard that the French manufacturer was willing to let such a highly-rated driver go.

"It is remarkable and extraordinary what has happened," he told AUTOSPORT. "It does beg the question: does Renault really want to win in F1?"

"I was looking for a long-term solution. To me it was staggering that Renault could be willing to let Jenson go, but I heard they might be about to so I had to look at the situation."

Button, who has signed a two-year deal with BAR with options for two more, admitted that he was also "shocked" by Renault's decision to replace him with test driver Fernando Alonso.

"It's not nice not to be wanted - for whatever reason," he said. "There may well be many reasons, I guess. But yes, I was hurt, I suppose. Shocked. But that's the way things go. It's not going to hold me back."

For more details and a full round-up of this week's F1 news, see AUTOSPORT magazine, on sale from Thursday.