Button targeting top spot on Williams return

Jenson Button woke up today once again dreaming of becoming Formula One world champion after securing a high-profile move back to Williams.

Button has signed a two-year contract to race for Williams from next season after current employers BAR failed to take up an option to extend his stay.

The 24-year-old Englishman, who currently lies third in the drivers’ championship with 61 points from 12 races, will join the recently recruited Mark Webber.

“I am very pleased that I had the option to rejoin the BMW Williams F1 Team where my Formula One career started,” Button said.

“For the meantime, the 2004 season has my full focus and attention. Beyond this, I have every confidence that the massive investment in resources and the depth of talent at Williams F1 and BMW provides the best platform for my future ambitions to be a world champion.”

Team owner Frank Williams said: “There has been a long-term relationship between the BMW Williams F1 team and Jenson, indeed his Formula One career started with the team in 2000.

“We have maintained that relationship until the present day, and I am delighted that one of the most talented drivers in Formula One has accepted the opportunity to return to the team.”

Williams also believes Button can fulfil his ambition of becoming world champion during his two-year contract.

“If we give him a good enough car most certainly yes,” Williams said.

“He’s on a strong upward path, every drive he improves and becomes more experienced and we’ve always believed an outstanding measure of a great world champion driver is the smoothness with which he drives and the infrequency of his accidents.”

Williams revealed how he had captured Button’s signature, adding on BBC Radio Five Live: “He has been under option to his present team BAR for some time, the option expired recently and Button’s management called us to say that the option was no longer valid and would we be interested in his services – and of course I reacted as you might expect me to.

“I think they [BAR] probably wanted to take up the option but whether they’ve executed or not will come out in due course.”

Button spent just one season at Williams before being forced to make way for Juan Pablo Montoya, spending the next two years with Benetton before moving on to BAR.

Asked why Button had been keen to return to the team, Williams added: “He started with us in 2000 and we’ve been in very close contact all of the time since.

“Maybe he just harboured a wish (to return) and recognised we had spent tens of millions of pounds reinvesting in the company technically speaking, maybe he recognises we have a greater opportunity of providing him a world championship car than his present team.

“I haven’t asked him the real answer yet.”