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Ecclestone: Button Should Sit 2009 Out

Bernie Ecclestone advised Jenson Button to consider sitting the 2009 season out rather than spend the entire year struggling for a few points. Following Honda's quitting the sport earlier this month and no buyer yet interested in purchasing the Brackley-based team, Button's only chance of starting next season on the grid would be securing a deal for the only team who hasn't announced its lineup for 2009, Toro Rosso.

However, the F1 supreme insists that Button's career would take a serious blow should the British driver decide to drive an uncompetitive car. His advice? Take a sabbatical, consider the options and try to secure a racing seat with one of the 'big guns' in 2010.

“He should be in any of the top teams. I'd rather see him wait to get a seat in one of those than race in an uncompetitive car,” the Daily Telegraph quoted Ecclestone as saying.

Should Button decide to take that advice for granted and sit the next season out, he would make his comeback in the series at the age of 30. That's probably the reason why the Somerset-born driver insisted earlier this month that he would sign for any team that could secure him a racing seat in 2009.

Honda's managing duo, Nick Fry and Ross Brawn, are still on hold concerning a buyout that would not alter the team's efforts for starting the next season with a competitive package. Recent reports have shown that both Telmex owner Carlos Slim and Prodrive boss David Richards are in contention for becoming owners of the F1 outfit, but no final decisions have been announced so far.

As for the Toro Rosso option, Sebastien Buemi is currently in pole position for securing a racing seat for next season, while Takuma Sato and Sebastien Bourdais are still keeping their fingers crossed for the other (and only) remaining seat in the series. However, when asked who would he rather prefer as teammate in 2009, Buemi gave a straight answer: “I would prefer Button.”

Honda did not rule out a return to Formula 1 in 2010, especially considering the fact that F1 budgets will drop by more than one third of what the teams are spending now inside the sport.
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