Jenson Button announced that former Brawn GP and Mercedes F1 CEO Nick Fry “yelled” when he heard of Button’s decision to join McLaren for the 2010 Formula One season.
Button, then reigning Brawn GP champion who was sold to Mercedes the following year, signed a deal with McLaren with Lewis Hamilton in what Ross Brawn called a “big mistake,” but it was Fry’s reaction that shocked Button.
“We came to McLaren after we won the 2009 World Championship,” Button told The High Performance Podcast. “People said going to McLaren alongside Lewis Hamilton was the craziest step, and even Ross Brawn said that.
“I told the team that I was leaving at the end of 2009. I spoke to Nick Fry who was basically just yelling at me – he was one of the bosses on Ross Brawn at the time.
“I remember going to his office and telling him I was going and he just yelled at me and I basically just started laughing because it was a really awkward situation.
“I kind of felt with him how aggressive he was. He just looked at me and said, ‘Why are you laughing at me’? It was the situation and it was exactly what I wasn’t expecting. “
Button revealed that Brawn’s reaction was a little quieter, but was surprised by the negative reaction to his decision.
“I told Ross and he was very friendly and said, ‘I think you’re making a big mistake walking upstairs next to Lewis’.
“I thought, ‘This is great,’ I get a lot of positive energy here, but it happens. I didn’t have a contract for the next year, it didn’t feel like the place for me and McLaren was. “
Button spent seven seasons at McLaren, four of which were spent as Hamilton’s teammate before joining Button’s former team, where he enjoyed great success.
Button won eight races with McLaren and finished second in the championship in 2011, second behind Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel.
The post “Fry just yelled at me for joining McLaren” – Motorsport Week first appeared on monter-une-startup.
