the flyin' scotsman

Ross must have thought that they could let Ruebens go, sign Nico and re-sign Jenson and all would be happy.

At the moment they have NO drivers signed and thats within a month of winning both championships and who's left to sign that could continue there top level position?

If I were Ross I'd be on a plane to Finland and get KR signed before he secures his 2010 calendar.

A.Wayne

Ross tried to make a silk purse from a sow's ear and it turned around and bit him in the **** .

Jenson and Barrichello apparently don't trust RB and his race fixing ways , Button wants to get as far away from him as possible ....

multi21

Brawn was taken over by Mercedes. They want German drivers and Rosberg and Heidfeld should be announced shortly. Button wanted his 6m pound salary that he was making in 2007. Last year he was paid 3m pounds and had to pay for his own travel to races!!

Kimi wanted a fortune to drive and no one, not McLaren, Toyota (before they folded) nor Brawn believe he is at that level of pay scale anymore.

Rubens is now being paid 4 times what he was making at Brawn. It's all about the cash

Larry Herman

No question that most teams are trying to reign in the driver salaries, as well as other expenses.

A.Wayne

Button was not worth it , same as Kimster and Brawn is an ,,, well ...

Scootin159

I'm expecting that Rosberg will be announced as signing for Brawn pretty soon. I think he wanted in @ McLaren, but Button took his spot. Now his best option is Brawn, and the rumor mill is indicating things will go that way.

As for the second seat - there aren't many top driver left, but there are a lot of "second tier" drivers still up for grabs. Sutil and Kobayashi have both impressed given the quality of their equipment, and I think would be good picks. Heidfeld and Kovalainen are also good drivers, but don't excite me much.

Benton

I'd love to see Rosberg and Sutil together, although that's pretty unlikely. FWIW, Button at McLaren is official.

the flyin' scotsman

Thats the point; even if Nico signs Brawn/Merc are left with drivers that probably cannot replicate '09 so they, Brawn/Merc loose out.

while I agree to a point its all about the cash isn't winning more important?

Larry Herman

The fact that Ross let the WDC go for what in the big picture (for F1) is not a whole lot of money leads me to believe that he has been listening to A. Wayne.

Bob Rouleau

Larry, do you think that Mercedes had input to the Button decision? I'd love to see Sutil and Vettel at Brawn myself.
Best,

M3 Defector

Look at the second half of Button's season. He got his **** handed to him by Barichello. I don't think Brawn is giving up a too much, but I agree, the pickens are slim right now.

dp35

Its hard to say Ross Brawn's done anything wrong considering his recent dealings. He acquired the Honda F1 operation for $1, now sold 75% of it to Mercedes for who knows how many millions, and added a championship trophy to his collection in the meantime. Brawn GP will be remembered as a team that existed for just one season (& only about 9-10 months) yet won the constructor's & driver's world championships.

Next year Brawn/Mercedes will likely have Rosberg, who should be able to drive the car to its limits. If rumors are true the 2nd driver will be a cheap one, reported to be Heidfeld. I don't understand this choice - why not take a chance on a young driver with potential, such as Sutil, Kobayashi, etc.

Benton

No kidding. He hasn't done anything wrong; he's done everything right. Now to add more fuel to the fire--some are suggesting that Schumacher might partner up with Merc & RB for a ride: http://www.autocar.co.uk/News/NewsAr...aspx?AR=245158

Flying Finn

Not re-signing Button was all from MB. Brawn wanted him but once MB took over, they told Button to go to McLaren.

We'll now have German team with two German drivers in Rosberg & Heidfeld and British team with two British drivers in Hamilton & Button.
Nationality plays role in sponsorships and that means money so this makes good sense business sense. Whether that turns into Championships is a different matter.
Same thing at Ferrari, once their title sponsor changed to a Spanish bank, they naturally wanted to have a Spanish driver which with their money, they got.

Scootin159

As much as I'd like to see Schumacher paired with Rosberg & Brawn (er...MB), the amount of money required to make him leave Ferrari would likely make Button look downright cheap. MB may be willing to cough up those euro's though to have a German champion racing for the champion German(?) team.