21/06/2010
NEWS STORY
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Following weeks of speculation that Jenson Button was involved in a legal action against the Mercedes GP team, it has been revealed that the lawsuit was in reference to a clause in his contract which promised him a Brawn F1 car.
When rumours of a possible multi-million pound lawsuit first surfaced last month, it was thought that it might involve the Englishman's contract with Brawn in terms of his services as a driver. Indeed, there were suggestions that the McLaren driver was taking action after being promised shares in Brawn GP before it was bought out by Mercedes in late 2009.
Pitpass business editor Chris Sylt was soon on the case, visiting the High Court in London, alas there was nothing to be found suggesting that such an action was in process. Indeed, the only F1-related court case Sylt found was Force India's claim against Lotus over allegedly copying its windtunnel model.
Now, all has been revealed with news that Button was suing the Brackley-based team because a clause in his contract with Brawn promised him one of the championship winning cars of which only six were built.
The Daily Mail reports that according to the writ submitted by Button's company JB Next BV, his contract with Brawn contained the clause: "In the event that the Driver wins the Driver Championship at any time during the term, the Company shall transfer ownership of one chassis of the type driven by the driver during that winning season."
Button's writ, which was served several months after he left Brawn, having still not received his car, quotes from an email Mercedes sent in January. "We have no spare 2009 chassis as limited quantities were manufactured for the 2009 season for cost reasons," it read. "We can therefore arrange for a chassis of the type driven by Jenson during the 2009 season in line with the terms of the contract to be manufactured during the factory shutdown in July as we currently are busy working on the 2010 car."
However, Button insisted that a 'replica' would lack the 'special and unique' value of one of the cars with which he and the Brackley team won both titles.
Keen to avoid the courts, Mercedes has now agreed a deal which will see the Englishman take ownership of a Brawn BGP 001, thought to be worth around £1m. One would imagine that the first thing Button will do is show the motor to the technical team at McLaren to see if they can glean anything from it to boost the world champion's chances of retaining his title.
The news that the legal action involved a car rather than the promise of stock in Brawn GP should kill off the more lurid speculation doing the rounds, for as reported by Pitpass in January, Ross Brawn is understood to have received a £24.1m payout for his 54% share of the team, while Nick Fry, who held 31%, received £13.8m.