While reigning F1 champion Lewis Hamilton admitted he'd put all his money on his fellow countryman in the 2009 title fight, Ross Brawn also revealed he is impressed with Jenson's incredible performances so far. According to the team owner, the fact that the Briton managed to beat more experienced teammate Barrichello on every occasion so far is proof enough of how good Button really is.
Talking to British magazine AUTOSPORT, Brawn insisted: “Rubens had his occasions when he beat Michael (Schumacher) and Michael was a pretty strong reference so the fact that Jenson has won these races with Rubens in the team sets the standard.”
However, keeping a world class driver like Button for another season might prove a tough job for team's CEO Nick Fry, who admitted the British driver's value inside F1 “has gone up dramatically” in the past few months.
“He has proved what he has been saying for nine years: give him the right equipment and he can deliver,” Fry was quoted as saying by British newspaper The Mirror, while also suggesting “Jenson is not going to move just for money, no matter how big the figures are. Money is a factor but it's not the be all and end all for him.”
According to the aforementioned tabloid, Button is now being paid approximately £2 million (more than 2.2 million euros) by Brawn GP, but is expected to quintuple his salary in 2010. If he's to secure a £10 million deal next year, Button will join F1's high-paid trio Kimi Raikkonen, Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso (all past F1 champions).
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