Button declares Ferrari insane: "You don't push somebody like that out"
F1 News
- GPblog.com
The announcement that Sebastian Vettel will leave Ferrari at the end of the season came as a surprise to almost everyone. Even the people who found him severely underperforming in 2019 did not see this coming now. No one seems more surprised than Jenson Button and he doesn't have a good word left for Ferrari's decision.
"My understanding is that he was never made an offer to stay on," says Craig Slater from Sky Sports F1 in their vodcast. This which would be much to the surprise of the 2009 world champion. "If he was pushed, for me it's madness, A four-time world champion! I think he showed his speed last year. He had a tough moment in the season when Charles was performing really well and I think that hurt him a little bit mentally. But he came back really strong, and he's just somebody you would definitely choose to put in your car if you had an F1 team."
After Button became world champion, he left for McLaren for 2010 and despite some successes he had to watch Vettel win one world title after another. In that respect, Vettel's situation is comparable to that of Button at the time. The Brit could continue at McLaren until he had had enough of it himself, even when Fernando Alonso entered the team as the top dog.
"There must be more to it. I don't know if Ferrari are going down the route of not wanting two number one drivers or what but it's a really strange choice for me and I'm still shocked that Sebastian [won't be] in a red car."