Formula One news

Button stays positive despite Honda demise

Jenson Button is trying to stay positive about the possibility that he could be without an F1 drive next season after Honda dramatically pulled the plug on its team on Friday morning.

"I found out the same time as everyone else in the team, so it's just as much of a shock for me as everyone else," Button said. "The first couple of hours were the most painful, but after that I thought what's the point in being down trying to look at every reason for it - it's not going to change so we've just got to be positive."

"There are positives, but the thing is we need to stay positive in ourselves and as one team because if we're not, who's going to be interested in taking it over? It's either going to make us stronger or break us," he added.

The team is now busy looking for a buyer, amid the current world economic turmoil. Honda F1 CEO Nick Fry claimed three potential buyers had already expressed interest in taking over the team. Prodrive boss David Richards is increasingly being mentioned in connection with a possible bid for the team, thanks to his strong links with possible finance from the Middle East and the fact that his bid to launch his own F1 team was scuppered last year by the row over whether customer cars would be allowed or not.

Meanwhile, upset Honda and Button fans are making their feelings known online and on social networking site Facebook, a group has been set up by a 28-year-old British F1 fan Peter Bowles called 'Let's Buy Honda F1! 400,000 People Needed'. Bowles is trying to collect pledges from 400,000 members of the public to take over the Brackley outfit. 

"I think it would be a tragedy for the credit crunch to have cost Formula 1 the talents of Jenson Button and Ross Brawn," the group's founder said.

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