Richards: BAR won't let Jenson down

Richards has also spoken about a major bidding war, saying that four other teams were chasing the young Briton, and that some offered 50 percent more money than BAR.

"I'm very pleased that Jenson chose us and put his future in our hands," Richards told the The News of the World. "He has made absolutely the right decision. He won't be disappointed. Jenson is not going to be world champion next year. But within the next two to three years I believe, if we get the car right, and he develops as I expect he will do, he'll be right up there."

"Several teams wanted him. Every man and his dog was involved. No one has mentioned that Eddie Jordan was trying to get him. Ferrari were pushing the Sauber side of things. Jaguar made no secret of their desire to get him. Toyota, waiting in the wings, had him at the top of their list."

As well as heading up BAR, Richards is the boss of Prodrive, which ran the works Subaru team Colin McRae drove for when he won the world rally championship in 1995. "Getting Colin to win a world championship was my most satisfying moment in motorsport," said Richards. "My next favourite is going to be doing the same for Jenson Button."

Button seems equally confident of his future success. In an interview with The People he said: "I know how good I am and I know I will be world champion."