Renault to Decide on Button in July, Says Briatore

Jenson Button's future at Renault will be decided after the British Grand Prix in July, team principal Flavio Briatore said on Saturday.

"From the beginning of the season we have said we decide in July after Silverstone," Briatore told reporters at the European Grand Prix.

Speculation is swirling around the 22-year-old English driver after Jaguar's Eddie Irvine said on Friday that he had heard Button was being pushed out.

Formula One sources say Button will be replaced at Renault by the team's young Spanish test driver Fernando Alonso next season. Italian Jarno Trulli is the other driver.

Button, who confirmed on Friday that he has been talking to other teams, has been linked to Jaguar with Britain's Sun newspaper reporting that he had held secret talks with that team's boss Niki Lauda at their factory.

"I have no clue, honestly, about what we are doing for the moment. I know there is already speculation but it is nothing. Absolutely nothing," said Briatore.

"It is from Irvine, this speculation?" he added. "Maybe Irvine is doing a better job as a team manager than as a driver."

Irvine's contract at Jaguar runs out at the end of the season while Button is at the end of a two-year loan period from Williams, with whom he has a long-term contract.

That team are expected to confirm Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya as team mate for Ralf Schumacher in an unchanged line-up for a third season.

Apart from being seen as a likely replacement for the 36-year-old Irvine at Jaguar, Button has also been linked to Japanese newcomers Toyota.