London: Newly-crowned Formula One world
champion Jenson Button hopes to stay with his Brawn GP team
next season, and is relishing the prospect of going
head-to-head with Lewis Hamilton again, he said on Tuesday.
Speaking after returning from Sao Paulo where he finished
fifth in the Brazilian Grand Prix to take the title on Sunday,
Button said he hadn't discussed a new contract yet.
However, he insisted he was not motivated solely by the
prospect of earning more money.
"I'm not one of these drivers who's going to be looking
for a new team that can pay me a big amount of money, that's
not what I'm about. I want to go and win races again," Button
told reporters.
"I want to be with Brawn, we just haven't discussed it
during the season. But now we can sit down and discuss it,"
Button added of his relationship with the British-based team.
"I am going to put a bit of pressure on them for sure,"
he half-joked, adding: "We haven't discussed a contract for
next year yet and that's something well do as soon as
possible."
The prospect of competing for the title with fellow
Briton Hamilton -- world champion last year -- was exciting,
Button said.
"If I am in a competitive car and Lewis (is) in a
competitive car next year, I think it'll be a very exciting
season for Formula One and especially the British public."
After winning six out of the first seven races of the
season, Button struggled in the second half of this year and
has not won a race since June's Turkish Grand Prix.
But his stirring drive in Brazil from 14th on the grid to
finish fifth at the weekend earned him the title with one race
to go -- the maiden Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Team boss Ross Brawn predicted that Button, who has been
through highs and lows in his decade in Formula One, would
emerge next season as a far stronger driver -- and with a good
chance of keeping his title.
The season was as much a triumph for Brawn as Button,
with his team winning the constructors' world championship in
its debut campaign.
Bureau Report