Button decision on Wednesday

The CRB met to settle the dispute between the BAR-Honda and BMW WilliamsF1 teams, which both claim to have a legitimate contract with the Englishman for next year.

Both teams argue they have a valid claim, but under the terms of the Concorde Agreement (the document by which F1 is run), all signatories have to abide by the ruling of the CRB.

The CRB, which convened for nine hours today, has now heard all the legal arguments of the case and has adjourned to consider its ruling, which is expected sometime around Wednesday, October 20, according to a Williams spokesman.

The decision over Button's future, who lies third in the drivers' world championship and has finished on the podium ten times for BAR-Honda this season, holds the key to the driver market. The only available competitive seat still up for grabs belongs to the team that fails in its claim to sign Button.

Williams has publicly praised its test driver Antonio Pizzonia in recent days, and it is believed highly likely that the Brazilian will be promoted to the race squad should Button remain at BAR. The BAR team meanwhile is thought to considering its own highly-impressive tester Anthony Davidson as a possible replacement, while the out-of-contract David Coulthard has also been connected to both teams.