Option Was Taken Up, Claims Richards

BAR team boss David Richards has denied Jenson Button's claims that the team failed to take up an outstanding option on the driver.

"Jenson is wrong," Richards claimed today at Rally Finland, where he is catching up with members of his Prodrive Subaru team. "The option was taken up on 21 July and lodged with Essentially Sport (Button’s management team) in writing on the day of the German Grand Prix, and then confirmed by them on the 27th."

When asked would he be willing to take the driver back into the fold Richards noted: "Jenson is a Formula One driver for BAR. He is the age of my son, and my son has done some horrendous things but I have always forgiven him â€" they are sometimes like overgrown teenagers in some respects."

Richards was unwilling to put the blame for the current situation on the head of the driver, claiming that those behind him are more responsible. "I believe that Jenson has been kept in the dark a bit about certain things by his management," Richards observed, before reiterating his desire to sit down with Button to discuss the matter before Monday evening.