Button set for Jaguar seat?

From the respective performances of Renault and Jaguar that would not appear to be the case, but Formula 1 is never that simple. It assumes, for instance, that Button is in a position of strength. But the man holding the cards at Renault, however, is Flavio Briatore.

Briatore controls a number of drivers in the paddock but Button is under contract to Frank Williams until the end of 2004, although he had to make way for Juan Pablo Montoya in the Williams-BMW team.

On the surface, Button has been doing a decent job alongside Jarno Trulli at Renault. The Italian has outqualified him 6-3 so far, but they have been very evenly matched in both qualifying and race conditions. Trulli, however, is under a long-term contract with Briatore and will definitely stay with the team.

On top of that, Fernando Alonso and Mark Webber are both Briatore men to varying degrees. Alonso is a Benetton test driver this year but it is believed that Briatore is obliged to find him a race seat in 2003 or lose his management interest in him.

The Spaniard tested for Jaguar recently and the word is that the team was highly impressed. Webber, meanwhile, will also have a Jaguar test as the team evaluates its options. Renault is also interested in Sebastien Bourdais, who currently leads the F3000 championship, a testing role is more likely for the Frenchman at first.

Button, then, is by no means a shoe-in for a third year at Renault. Jaguar, meanwhile, is about to run a heavily-revised car which will be raced for the first time in the British Grand Prix at Silverstone. Although this year's car is a disaster, the team has only had proper use of a wind tunnel for a couple of months and there is not a lot wrong with Cosworth's V10. Relatively dramatic progress is thus not out of the question.

Despite rumours of done deals, it makes little sense for anyone to put pen to paper anywhere until there is a more accurate gauge of Jaguar's true situation.