BAR boss questions Renault's will to win
British American Racing boss David Richards has questioned the motives of the Renault Formula 1 team in the wake of its decision to drop Jenson Button for 2003, according to this week's AUTOSPORT magazine
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.
Be part of the Autosport community
Join the conversationShare Or Save This Story
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments