A seat with Williams has only now become officially available, but Jenson Button may have missed the boat, to switch to to the team which gave him his Formula 1 career break, for 2017, while the Grove outfit courts Sergio Perez and Felipe Nasr.
The 36-year-old driver and McLaren supremo Ron Dennis have said they will get together at Monza to discuss the future, amid strong speculation the Woking team will replace Button with Stoffel Vandoorne.
“I’m sure I will speak to Ron this weekend,” said Button.
Interestingly, although Williams has been hinting at its interest in Button for 2017, the 2009 world champion said Felipe Massa’s decision to retire caught him by surprise.
“I didn’t know it was going to happen,” said Button.
But even though the seat is definitely open now, and Massa says he told Williams of his decision two months ago, Button may not actually return to Grove where he began his F1 career some 16 years ago.
“If Jenson had been banging the door down, Williams would have welcomed him,” a team source told The Times.
“It was a perfect fit and they would have loved to see him back. But he has taken too long making a decision and things have moved on. He seems to be hanging on for another year at McLaren,” the unnamed source added.
Meanwhile it is almost certain that Valtteri Bottas will remain with Williams for the next two years, but the real story is who will occupy the much coveted garage beside him.
Perez has been coy about his plans since Force India team boss Vijay Mallya trumpeted that his team’s driver line-up would be retained for 2017.
The Mexican, who would bring substantial backing to Williams, has denied that a deal is done and despite recently admitting he would like to stay at Force India – this was interpreted as a negotiation ploy to force Williams’ hand.
Brazilian journos believe that Massa gave fellow countryman Nasr a heads-up before the summer break, which in turn had the Sauber driver lobbying for funds in Brazil.
The success of his quest is not known, but for sure he is a candidate. Nasr was Williams test and reserve driver in 2014.
Outsiders for the drive are Mercedes protege’s Pascal Wehrlein and Esteban Ocon. The German manufacturer supply power units to the Grove outfit.
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