McLaren driver Jenson Button may be taking a step away from Formula One in 2017 but the Brit hasn't lost any of his humour in regard to how things work in the paddock, jokingly telling GQ Magazine that he would be open to Lewis Hamilton paying him off to ram into Nico Rosberg in the season finale on Sunday evening.
While everyone is betting on Nico Rosberg to seal his first ever crown with a 12 point advantage over Hamilton, Button put into words what nearly everyone is thinking but too afraid to sayโฆit would take Rosberg crashing out to clear the way for Hamilton's fourth title and he is open to offers to make sure that happensโฆ
โUnless one of us crashes into him, I mean, Lewis is very rich and has a lot of money, flies around in a private jet, so I'm sure he can afford to pay me,โ he joked. โThe only possibility, however, would be when Nico laps me because we're not fast enough. Anyway, I'm open to offers. And anyway, I'm retiring โฆ sorry, taking a sabbatical.โ
Even if Lewis wins the race all Nico needs to do is finish second or third and the title is still his, so all jokes aside, it would take another two cars to finish ahead of him, if Lewis wins, to stop the almost guaranteed outcome from happening. While Ferrari and Red Bull have been challenging in the past few races, it still seems highly unlikely that under normal circumstances a Mercedes driver would finish off the podium, unless of course, Lewis was in the lead and backed Nico up so that other drivers could pass him.
โThere's no point Lewis being ahead by half a lap, if he's smart he's going to back the cars up so there is racing behind him because that's the only way the result will fall his way,โ Red Bull team boss Christian Horner was quoted as saying by Sky Sports..
โIn reality a top-three finish is a straightforward result for a Mercedes driver but he's probably going to be watching his mirrors harder than everybody else in the field. He's got everything at stake. We could be Lewis's best friend on Sunday if we manage to get both cars ahead of Nico.โ
