Cooper Straight:

The past few weeks have been quite fascinating, and it's worth recalling the highlights. Ralf Schumacher becomes the second driver to ditch Williams as he is confirmed at Toyota, a team that has barely troubled the scorers this year. Giancarlo Fisichella is wooed back by the very same Flavio Briatore who kicked him out three years ago. Mark Webber finally gets into Williams after the longest courtship in F1 history.

Toyota's erstwhile favoured son Cristiano da Matta is sacked six races early, giving a chance to Ricardo Zonta to prove he's worthy of a 2005 Toyota seat, years after he failed to make the most of previous opportunities. But hang on, wasn't that drive going to Jarno Trulli? Remember him, the only man to have beaten Michael Schumacher this year, and yet still booted out of Renault because he didn't play the right chess moves?

It's all good stuff, the sort of intrigue that F1 thrives on. But nothing can top Jenson Button's move to Williams.

It's rare for an event like this to catch us all by surprise, so hard is it to keep these things quiet. But I suspect that just a couple of weeks ago the key players could not predict how it would all unfold. Jenson's manager John Byfield must have had this plan up his sleeve all season, with his man's full co-operation. But even the JBs probably didn't think that it would work out as well as it did.

Before the season started Jenson was an obvious candidate to replace Juan Pablo Montoya for 2005, but it was made clear to all that BAR had an option on his services that would automatically come into force if the team scored enough points. Testing looked good, but nobody realised before Melbourne just how quick the car would really be.

The first real sign came in the second race in Malaysia, and after that, Jenson could do no wrong. About five podiums into the season I joked to David Richards that by then he must have had Jenson tied up until 2010. He could see the funny side...

While we all assumed that Jenson would now legally be committed to BAR for 2005, in our innocence we all wondered why on earth would he want to go anywhere else anyway? He'd built himself a great situation, and the package was proving consistently fast at all kinds of circuits. He was the classic underdog, performing well in a car that wasn't supposed to. In contrast by their normal standards Williams looked a bit lost, and the incumbents couldn't wait to abandon ship.

It now seems that Byfield and Button were convinced that, nevertheless, Williams was where they wanted to be. They were simply waiting for the option situation to fully unfold. When through some technicality things apparently went in their favour - possibly even to their surprise - a window of opportunity to get out arose. And they took it. A quick phone call to Frank Williams to confirm that Jenson was definitely free, and it wouldn't have taken long for things to fall into place.

Frank must have felt like it was Christmas come early. Team bosses love nothing more than shafting their rivals, which is why it's a joke that these guys have to get together and agree unanimously on the future direction of F1. Frank's been had over many times before, especially by his pal Ron Dennis, and it's part of the game. They would all sell their own grandmothers.

Now aware that all along their golden boy was planning his escape, folk at BAR are decidedly unimpressed. You could understand if the team was doing badly. Nobody blames Mark Webber for making an almost identical move - quitting in the middle of a long-term deal because performance clauses allowed him to do so. He says that Jaguar mechanics have actually said don't worry about us, go and win some races, a sign of how much respect they have for him.

Not only was Mark leaving a team with limited prospects, everything was done in a transparent way. All year the talk has been not of will he go, but where will he go, and the Jaguar management had to accept the inevitable. This is different, and there are questions of trust and loyalty that carry more weight than any obscure contractual clause. The guys in the race team and back at the factory have a right to feel betrayed.

The big question is, why did Jenson want to leave? Again, you can't argue with the move made by Webber, but in Button's case it seems to defy logic.

At nearly any point in the last 25 years Williams was the dream ticket. A look at this year's form suggests that right now, that is not necessarily the case. It's a question of whether you believe the status quo will be restored next year, or if there's been a permanent shift in the pecking order - in other words, will BAR and Renault continue to be potential race winners and rivals to Williams and McLaren over the next few seasons?

Remember Jordan in 1999, taking advantage of others building crappy cars and simply getting everything right for a short period? Perhaps that's how Jenson sees BAR's situation. He may also be aware that while all is rosy now, the team could face a financial crunch in the not too distant future, and that will affect competitiveness. There could be other personal issues that we don't yet know about. If so, perhaps this is about more than the quest for a quicker car.

But why are Montoya and Schumacher so keen to get out of Williams? Apart from a shared desire for bigger salaries, do they know something that we don't about the direction the team is taking? It was interesting that in Hockenheim two driver managers who have recently had dealings with the team told me the same thing - Williams has a management problem in that there is no depth below the leading figureheads.

Having said that Montoya's move to McLaren looked pretty dodgy just a few weeks ago. But now that the team has worked its way through its problems, and is on an upward cycle, Juan looks like a genius. Maybe Williams is also on the way up.

Anyway, Richards is left to face the music. Lest we forget, he is in essence an employee of BAR and not a founder/owner like Frank, Ron, Peter Sauber or Eddie Jordan. If he screws up, he can be kicked out, and he could well be fighting right now to save his job, which is why he has to be seen to be making a big fuss and putting his case across in the media. He is insisting that Jenson will drive next year after all, and he has to. It's nonsense, of course. The lawyers can argue all they want, but Button has indicated where his intentions lie, and realistically having him back just isn't going to work.

One can feel sorry for Richards, but this is a hard business. A year ago he was playing a game of wits with Jacques Villeneuve that was ultimately resolved in his favour. This time a driver appears to have got the better of him. Ironically both scenarios damaged him with elements of the BAT management, the guys who ultimately sign the cheques. While this year everything has gone his way, not so long ago his future with the organisation was by no means guaranteed.

Richards needs Button. It seems to be the case that the technicality that got Jenson out involved Honda's contract extension and its timing. Ironically it could be that one of the reasons why Honda was happy to extend was because it thought that Jenson would be on board. A related issue is that BAR is almost totally devoid of significant subsidiary sponsors. It's likely that negotiations are in hand (or are already completed) that rely on the rising star being around next year.

Another thorny question is that until last week Button was totally clued up on the team's future plans, both technical and otherwise. Usually when a driver is known to be going the flow of information dries up, as both current Williams drivers will admit.

Ironically Button (and therefore the team) put in their best performance to date at Hockenheim. That first win seemed to be just around the corner. All the pieces were falling into place, but even if the very same Jenson Button sits in the car for the remaining six races of 2004 the damage has already be done to that critical element of team morale and momentum. It could all unravel very messily.

I do wonder what Mark Webber thinks about developments. When I spoke to him recently he gave the impression that he genuinely didn't know who his team-mate was going to be. He was also concerned that Williams might be running out of suitably qualified candidates. He's made it pretty clear that he is not a huge fan of Antonio Pizzonia, and having an inexperienced youngster on board wasn't going to help him much. Equally he would have had his doubts about either Jacques Villeneuve or Mika Hakkinen coming on board. What he needed was somebody quick and experienced, who wasn't going to rock the boat.

On the face of it Jenson is a pretty good solution. They get on well, and Mark even came across to congratulate the BAR man on his first podium in Malaysia after his own race had turned into a nightmare.

However, the goalposts have moved for Webber. Just a week ago he was going into Williams as the man charged with the job of motivating the troops, a task he proved so adept at while at Jaguar. He had the opportunity to make it into his team, at least to the extent that anybody can at Williams, where one man calls the shots.

With Button on board, that's going to be a lot harder. Jenson has the experience of that 2000 season to draw on, and already knows everybody. At BAR he showed that, like Mark, he too can get the guys in the frontline on his side, and be a motivating force for the whole organisation. He's also got better results and arguably more momentum that Webber.

It could develop into the greatest driver pairing in recent times, but it could also be that the two of them are just too similar in approach to make it work. Mark could find himself gently eased into a supporting role that he didn't sign up for.

Just last week I was considering all the recent moves, and the fact that there are now more desirable seats than there used to be, even if Ferrari is blocked indefinitely. Quite a few drivers must have been wishing that a seat at BAR was available this winter and, quite suddenly, one is. The chase is on. Anthony Davidson is the obvious option, but Honda and the sponsors will probably need a bigger name. If DR is short of inspiration, there's a bloke in Grove who has a long list of telephone numbers that he no longer requires.

Wouldn't it be great to see that bloke Villeneuve back? Of course it won't happen as long as Richards is still in charge, but then again...