S2000 Driver

From F1Racing.net:



A FURIOUS Jenson Button slammed team mate Jacques Villeneuve after a
pit stop blunder with the BAR team.

"Button finished the race tenth, one place behind Villeneuve but claimed he could have finished higher, if the Canadian had not pitted on the same lap as Button, forcing the Brit to queue up behind him in the BAR pit for some fifteen seconds.

'Jacques came in on my lap and completely ruined my race,' Button told The Sun. 'It cost me a hell of a lot of time - it was like doing two pit stops instead of one.'

Villeneuve was supposed to come in a lap before Button, but team principal David Richards said there were problems with the radio.

'I was very annoyed,' Button continued to rant. 'I couldn't drive for another lap because I would have run out of fuel.'

'Jacques said sorry, but I'm not impressed,' he concluded.

The pair have been at logger-heads ever since Button joined the team this winter. Villeneuve claims not to be impressed by Button, because he has yet to prove himself of earn the 1997 Champion's respect.

The Sun article, however, suggests Villeneuve played the pit-stop to out-psyche Button. It cites a BMW Williams team insider saying that Villeneuve played the same strategy against Frentzen when the pair raced for the Grove team."

StrangeDaze

Start placing your bets on how long those two will last as teammates...

S2000 Driver

My bet is with Jacques' BAR contract ending this year, unless he produces some outstanding results, he's gone.

Russ

Button needs to stop whining and race the car. When he gets his first championship under his belt, then his words will have some JU-ICE.
I've got more time on the toilet than he has on the podium. Shut up already.

E30M3

>>>Button needs to stop whining and race the car. When he gets his first championship under his belt, then his words will have some JU-ICE. I've got more time on the toilet than he has on the podium. Shut up already.<<<

Button makes something like 20 % +/- of JV's salary. A small fraction. Yet in his first event with BAR, Button qualified within a 1/4 second of JV. After JV had his best qualifying results in years...

Button had a faster race lap, and would have finished ahead of JV were it not for the pit problem. JV might be the second highest paid F1 driver. Schuie being #1. JV is paid so much that it affects the budget to develop the car! If Button has a results problem then what about JV?

I don't believe the "broken radio" excuse. Ralf Schumacher claimed that a few times when Montoya started going faster than him. The Egos of these guys are simply HUGE. It rocks their world if they don't prevail in some way every day.

It looks like BAR may finally be off to a better year. They were on a good race pace, qualified well and so forth. And that was with a lower spec engine as their latest highrevvers still have some teething trouble - reliability. I think they were down about 30-40 HP from the motor they'll soon be using.

Stan.

S2kRob

I believe Villeneuve's salary is about $20 million, or $1.25m per race. So, for example, at the last Canadian Grand Prix, he completed 9 laps, earning $139,000 per lap.

Nice.

E30M3

>>>I believe Villeneuve's salary is about $20 million, or $1.25m per race. So, for example, at the last Canadian Grand Prix, he completed 9 laps, earning $139,000 per lap.<<<

I've seen claims that JV's contract is around $25 million which may include things besides straight salary. What's Button pulling down? $3-4 million?

Stan

Elistan

Button needs to take a page out of Montoya's book - "sh!t happens." You accept it, get over it, and do your best the next time.

NS2000X

Very entertaining race.
Couldn't believe my eyes though when both the BAR Honda's went in to the pits.

Always cheering for the underdog I was dissapointed when Rakkinen got called in on pit lane speed violation.

NS2000X

Porsche518

Just what Honda needs, feuding babies.