Button chose Brawn GP after Horner rejection: 'Red Bull had no seat'
F1 News
Jenson Button has revealed that he made an attempt to drive for Red Bull Racing's team. Only when team boss Christian Horner turned him down did the driver opt to drive for Brawn GP. That proved to be a brilliant choice, as he became world champion.
Button was rejected by Red Bull
Button, who drove for Honda in Formula One from 2006 to 2008, wanted to seek refuge elsewhere after 2008. The ailing Honda F1 team was forced to exit the sport, leaving Button and his teammate Rubens Barrichello dependent on finding a buyer for the team.
"I tried to get out of it because the team didn't look like it was going to exist," Button told This Morning. "So I asked around and my manager spoke to Christian Horner about a drive at his team and the junior team [Toro Rosso, now AlphaTauri] and they said, no, all the contracts are done."
That made Button decide to work with the remaining team members to do everything possible to keep the team afloat. "We found some people that were interested in owning the team, but I don't think it would have worked out that way," admitted the 2009 world champion.
In the end, Honda was sold for the symbolic sum of one British pound to Ross Brawn, who renamed the team Brawn GP. "It's a big reason why this worked out. But, we had to cut and shut the car as well. The car was made to work with one type of engine. Then we had to go and ask, plead for somebody to give us an engine to put in the back to fit it in the car," Button said. The engine supplier was Mercedes, which would take over the team a year later.