Formula One news

BAR confirms 2006 driver line-up

BAR has confirmed that Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello will be its race drivers in 2006. The announcement means that Takuma Sato will need to look elsewhere if he wants to continue racing in F1 next season. The team has retained Button after he bought himself out of his Williams deal and Rubens Barrichello will officially join the team on 1 January from Ferrari.

"We can now put the uncertainty of the past few months behind us and focus on the
future, which looks very exciting indeed," said BAR CEO Nick Fry. "We have made no secret of the fact that we wanted Jenson Button to remain with BAR Honda for the next few years and that we considered Jenson and Rubens to be our dream line-up for 2006 and beyond."

"Takuma Sato has been an extremely valuable and much-liked member of our team for four years in the roles of test driver, third driver and, latterly, race driver," Fry added. "He has made an enormous contribution to BAR Honda's development. Takuma's current contract reaches its conclusion at the end of 2005 but we are in discussions with Takuma and his management regarding possibilities for the future."

Jenson Button commented: "I'm obviously delighted to confirm that I will be staying with BAR Honda for the next few years. Since I joined the team in 2003 we've shared some important moments in my career and the team's history. There are many more goals for us to achieve together - not least of all winning the World Championship. I want to be at BAR Honda to see that happen - and I believe that it will happen. 2005 has been a challenging year but we've bounced back from our problems and the team is much stronger as a result. I also have a new team-mate in Rubens Barrichello and I look forward to the two of us pushing each other, and working together to keep driving the team forward."

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