Formula For Circles

Button: I like my future to be open

Jenson Button insists he harbours no desire to sign a long-term contract with McLaren despite many of his rivals securing their futures.

Earlier this year, Red Bull signed Sebastian Vettel on a long-term deal with Ferrari later announcing that they had signed Fernando Alonso until 2016.

This prompted reports that McLaren could offer both Button and his team-mate Lewis Hamilton lucrative contracts in order to secure their long-term futures.

However, Button insists he would prefers to keep his future open.

"For me, it makes no sense to sign a long-term contract," the McLaren driver told Switzerland's Blick newspaper.

"I don't know how I'm going to feel in a few years. I can't imagine racing at 40, I just want to race for as long as I can win.

"I've not had any calls about my future - McLaren has an option on me for next year, that's all I know. Many of my colleagues don't hesitate to secure for the long term, but I like it when my future is open."

Meanwhile, in an interview with the Daily Mail , Button spoke of his relationship with his McLaren team-mate.

"We don't spend any time together," said the Brit. "It is the easiest way, really."

He added: "We get on but we still want to beat each other and that is always going to be the way. We are very competitive people.

"For me, coming to this team, it was exciting to work with Lewis because he is one of the fastest drivers Formula One has ever seen.

"That is a challenge and I am strong enough to take that challenge. If I didn't feel comfortable with my ability I wouldn't have made the move to McLaren."

Button, who is currently second in the Drivers' Championship, 60 points behind Championship leader Sebastian Vettel, insists he would love another opportunity to fight for a World title.

"I don't know if we are all the same but I think we will always want more than we have got," he said.

"For someone to be content with what they have is very unusual and, if they have that, it is a quality. I am not there yet.

"If I didn't win another Championship, I wouldn't leave Formula One and feel I had missed out, that I hadn't achieved what I wanted to.

"But, at this moment in time, I would love to fight for another Championship. I am not going to give up until I either get bored of racing around in circles in Formula One cars or I am not quick enough.

"I realise that I am doing something that I absolutely love.

In LA real estate circles, big doubts about ... - Formula 1 Blog

The Los Angeles real estate’s upper crust — i.e. the realtors and brokers who work with properties on the high side of millions of dollars — is buzzing about the Petra Ecclestone purchase of Candy Spelling’s legendarily gigantic Beverly Hills estate. But the buzz isn’t about whether we will be graced with her lovely presence.

It’s about whom she is fronting on the deal.

The persistent rumor is that there is a buyer with far deeper pockets than the Ecclestones. I suspect people are starting to wonder what a 22-year-old would need with all that room.

The main guess is Lakshmi Mittal, an Ecclestone family friend worth in the range of $28 billion. He’s known for some big home purchases, including one on Kensington Palace Gardens in London, which went for $128.25 million.

Oh, yeah, Bernie was the seller on that one.

Another thing to keep in mind: No one has officially confirmed the sale, despite all the headlines. (If you’ve paid attention, they’ve tended to hedge their bets with question marks or other phrasing.)

Here’s one site uploading the rumors and here’s another .

My sources tell me we can expect a few more twists and turns before the real buyer is known.

I’ll throw in another name I haven’t seen mentioned: Tower Lane Properties. It was in the news here in Los Angeles in March when neighbors in Benedict Canyon — where folks live who don’t want to deal with the riff-raff of Beverly Hills — raised a ruckus over plans for a “mega-mansion” that would include a 42,681-square-foot main house, a double-winged “son’s villa” at more than 27,000 square feet, a 4,400-square-foot guest house, a 5,300-square-foot quarter for staff and a 2,700-square-foot gatehouse.

According to the Los Angeles Times, planning documents list Mansour Fustok of London as the president of Tower Lane Properties. Fustok is a former brother-in-law to Saudi King Abdullah and uncle to Prince Abdulaziz ibn Abdullah ibn Abdulaziz al Saud, one of King Abdullah’s sons. Rutter Hobbs attorney Olivia Goodkin, who served as the initial registered agent for Tower Lane Properties, has represented companies controlled by Saudi royal family members in the past.

Saudi money and Bernie Eccelstone? That couldn’t be related, right?

I’m skeptical as well. Sure she’s rich. But no one advising anyone with the amount of money she has (lets call it roughly $750m – 50% of bernie’s money) would ever be advised to buy a house worth $100m.

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