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Jenson Button sued Mercedes over £1m car 'gift'

Discussion in 'F1' started by AlexO91, Jun 21, 2010.

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  1. AlexO91

    AlexO91 F1 Rookie

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    #1 AlexO91, Jun 21, 2010
    Last edited: Jun 21, 2010
    Jenson Button sued Mercedes after they refused to give him the car he drove to victory as a gift.

    Button says his team, Brawn GP, which was later bought out by Mercedes, wrote into his contract that he would receive a Brawn BGP 001 if he won the championship.

    Sources close to Button, 30, say he wanted one of the cars, which he described as the best he had ever driven, as a ‘memento’ of his triumph last October.

    ‘Last year’s victory was a culmination of his life’s work, and to have one of the models he drove to win was going to be the icing on the cake for him,’ a source said last night.

    At least six Brawn BGP 001 cars were made for Button and his team-mate Rubens Barrichello by Honda Racing, which was bought out by Brawn last year.

    The carbon-fibre vehicles are believed to have cost more than £1million each to build.
    But in the months after Button’s crowning as the 10th British Formula 1 World Champion, there was no sign of his gift.

    Meanwhile, Brawn was bought out in November by Mercedes, which inherited the contractual pledge.

    Just days later, Button left to join Vodafone McLaren Mercedes alongside Lewis Hamilton. And in April, he launched legal action against Mercedes at the High Court in London.

    According to the writ submitted by Button’s company JB Next BV, his contract with Brawn read: ‘In the event that the Driver wins the Driver Championship at any time during the term, the Company shall transfer...ownership of one chassis [car] of the type driven by the driver during that winning season.’

    The writ also quotes an email from Mercedes in January, which said: ‘We have no spare 2009 chassis as limited quantities were manufactured for the 2009 season for cost reasons.

    '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.’
    But Button said a replica would lack the ‘special and unique’ value of one of the vehicles he used to win the championship.

    The writ only became public last week. However, The Mail on Sunday can now reveal that the two sides have reached a deal after frantic negotiations.

    Button’s spokesman said that he will receive a 2009 Brawn BGP 001 from Mercedes. ‘We have arrived at an amicable resolution, and so there will no longer be any court action over this,’ he added.

    Motoring experts say the vehicle could be worth as much as £1million.

    Button’s agreement with Mercedes is similar to a promise made by McLaren boss Ron Dennis, who pledged to give Lewis Hamilton a £5million car if he won three world championships.

    The Brawn BGP 001, with its seven-speed gearbox, can reach 60mph in less than two seconds, and 100mph in four seconds.

    Button has developed a reputation as something of a playboy because of his love of luxury cars and beautiful women. Among the vehicles in the garage of his Guernsey mansion is a Ferrari Enzo, worth about £450,000.

    Last year, he put his Bugatti Veyron on the market for £900,000.

    Button recently split from Jessica Michibata, a Japanese lingerie model, after 18 months together. His previous conquests include model Florence Brudenell-Bruce and ex-Fame Academy contestant Louise Griffiths, to whom he was engaged


    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/formulaone/article-1288030/Formula-1-race-ace-Jenson-Button-sued-Mercedes-1m-car-gift.html#ixzz0rUO21RfX
     
  2. Metal Guru

    Metal Guru Rookie

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    #2 Metal Guru, Jun 21, 2010
    It's bull**** for Mercedes to say there's not enough material to build up a car. For example, when a local Detroit group bought up the assets of Brabham approximately 10 years ago, there were enough chassis and parts to assemble four cars.
    There are so many spare parts manufactured in a F1 season that it should be no issue to restore one chassis. Hopefully Mercedes do a good job on it and build a concourse car up for Jenson.
     
  3. amenasce

    amenasce Three Time F1 World Champ
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    #3 amenasce, Jun 21, 2010
    Mercedes is ridiculous not to honor the agreement.

    But i wonder how this will affect his relationship to the MB management at Mclaren?
     
  4. Etcetera

    Etcetera Two Time F1 World Champ
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    #4 Etcetera, Jun 21, 2010
    WAG on my part, but I'd wager MB isn't long for McLaren.
     
  5. vinuneuro

    vinuneuro F1 Rookie

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    #5 vinuneuro, Jun 21, 2010
    Should be a non-issue; Mercedes has almost completely pulled out of McLaren.
     
  6. kraftwerk

    kraftwerk Two Time F1 World Champ

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    #6 kraftwerk, Jun 21, 2010
    Good for him, he was offered it he should get it no question.
     
  7. BMW.SauberF1Team

    BMW.SauberF1Team F1 World Champ

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    #7 BMW.SauberF1Team, Jun 21, 2010
    Another reason for me to dislike MB. Good job JB.
     
  8. b-mak

    b-mak F1 Veteran

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    #8 b-mak, Jun 21, 2010
    +1
     
  9. AlexO91

    AlexO91 F1 Rookie

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    #9 AlexO91, Jun 21, 2010
    +2
     
  10. zaevor2000

    zaevor2000 Formula 3

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    #10 zaevor2000, Jun 21, 2010
    It was in his contract and he EARNED it...

    MB needs to man up and give Jensen what he was promised in his contract.

    That would be fair and right.

    Frank
     
  11. Craigy

    Craigy Formula 3

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    #11 Craigy, Jun 21, 2010
    Y'all needs to read the article:

    "The writ only became public last week. However, The Mail on Sunday can now reveal that the two sides have reached a deal after frantic negotiations.

    Button’s spokesman said that he will receive a 2009 Brawn BGP 001 from Mercedes. ‘We have arrived at an amicable resolution, and so there will no longer be any court action over this,’ he added."

    He is getting his car :)
     
  12. zaevor2000

    zaevor2000 Formula 3

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    #12 zaevor2000, Jun 21, 2010
    Always nice to hear of a happy ending!

    Frank
     
  13. Darkhorse575

    Darkhorse575 Formula Junior

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    #13 Darkhorse575, Jun 21, 2010
    Last edited: Jun 21, 2010
    Shocking to hear that this is how MB handle their business affairs. Accept a contract and wait for frantic negotiations to honor it? I'm not a JB fan but I'm becoming one based on his on and off track career moves.

    Go Lewis!
     
  14. wax

    wax Five Time F1 World Champ
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    #14 wax, Jun 21, 2010
    "Reading" is a lost "R".
     
  15. Mitch Alsup

    Mitch Alsup F1 Veteran

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    #15 Mitch Alsup, Jun 21, 2010
    Except for that minor component between the driver and the transmission.
     
  16. PSk

    PSk F1 World Champ

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    #16 PSk, Jun 22, 2010
    Mercedes is but an engine supplier now for McLaren. No longer part ownership. McLaren next year will race their own engine.


    Also this whole thing makes no sense. Usually an old car is completely useless to a team ...
    Pete
     
  17. zaevor2000

    zaevor2000 Formula 3

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    #17 zaevor2000, Jun 22, 2010

    I think probably it is an exercise in stalling from MB.

    I would presume that the main concern from MB is the security issue. MB is probably concerned that when Jensen is given the car, McLaren engineers will be pouring over the Brawn chassis in about 2 seconds flat with a fine tooth comb and feeding the measurements into a CFD program to analyse the design. Also the car will then be taken into pieces to discover the secrets to the internal packaging as well... Plus, as we have seen, even Jensen himself can almost reassemble the car so it looks as if nothing has happened.

    If MB DON'T deliver the car, or give him the car with incorrect parts, they can be sued for breach of contract since they are not delivering the EXACT car that competed in races...

    A very sticky situation when you think it through from MB's point of view...a choice between the Scylla and Charybdis.

    I would not want to be in their shoes...but then again, a contract is a contract.

    I would imagine that MB will look into the contract and fight it on the issue of the delivery time guaranteed to deliver the chassis ;)

    Frank
     
  18. Craigy

    Craigy Formula 3

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    #18 Craigy, Jun 22, 2010
    Yeah that's what I was thinking. . . . however those particular old cars would be the championship-winning cars, and fairly unique ones at that. Who knows though.
     
  19. AlexO91

    AlexO91 F1 Rookie

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    #19 AlexO91, Jun 22, 2010
    Some teams like to keep some of their old cars, Mclaren have lines of their old cars from DC's, to Kimi's even back to Prost and Senna. I think it's more sentimental value than the actual value of the cars. Doesn't make what Mercedes did right however, if something is written in a contract then as a result of something else happening in this case Jenson winning the WDC then that promise should be kept.
     
  20. fluque

    fluque Formula 3

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    #20 fluque, Jun 22, 2010
    The whole situation does not make much sense.

    How would a Honda car batched as Brawn GP be sentimental to Mercedes? Also with new regulationans this year I also don't see how giving the car to Jenson puts in jeopardy Brawns/Mercedes intellectual property. Last time I checked Mclaren was way ahead of Mercedes in quali and race pace, and the championship standings by a fair margin.

    It's nonsense and seems like sour grapes from Brawn/Mercedes to renege on their committments.
     
  21. dusk

    dusk Formula Junior

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    #21 dusk, Jun 22, 2010
    Last edited: Jun 22, 2010
    As always in F1 a case of "my dicks bigger than yours". In this case MB went limp.
    Wrong of MB to force JB to the courtroom door.
     

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