“I was very disappointed at the way things finished up with Jenson,” was the simple and short statement of Brawn when talking to the reporters from UK newspaper Daily Express.
While that statement alone shows how much Brawn wanted to continue his collaboration with Button, the team's Chief Executive Officer Nick Fry was far more critic of his former employee. Fry insisted once again that he made Button a better offer than what McLaren had promised the Brit and hinted that this may just be the most stupid decision Button ever made in F1.
“We offered loyalty which we hoped, perhaps naively, he would return. There is bravery and there is stupidity and we will only find out which it is next year,” said Fry in an interview with The Mirror, on Wednesday.
“We believe we made Jenson a good offer – one that was significantly more than he is being paid at McLaren. We are all mystified by this decision. We think he has been badly advised and had his head turned by McLaren's glitzy headquarters,” added the Silver Arrows F1/Brawn GP CEO.
One can't help it from wondering what happened to the statements of those people and the way they changed through the duration of the last few days. Days before Button signed a deal with McLaren, Fry told the media the Mercedes buyout would not bring Jenson any more money for a potential extension, while Ross Brawn previously admitted that he won't offer the Brit any more money than what he had earned in 2009.
Not to mention the fact that Button himself agreed to a 50 percent pay cut prior to the 2009 season in order to save the team from going bankrupt.
Jenson allegedly signed a 6 million sterling pounds per year contract with McLaren, for the upcoming 3 years. While quite a lot for Brawn, that sum represents only half of what Lewis Hamilton is making per year as a McLaren driver.
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