McLaren pointer for jettisoned Button

French Grand Prix: Renault's blunt axeing of the young Briton eclipses Montoya's brilliance

Such is the fascination of these things that Jenson Button's troubled future has been more of a talking point here in the scorched wasteland of Magny-Cours than yet another gripping battle for pole position between Juan Pablo Montoya and Michael Schumacher.

On their home ground Renault chose to make public the expected news that Button will indeed be replaced for 2003 by their Spanish test driver Fernando Alonso. But in a bad-tempered and defensive press conference (which Alonso was not allowed to attend) what Renault did not explain to anyone's satisfaction why the substitution is being made. So far Button has scored more than twice as many World Championship points as his vaunted team-mate Jarno Trulli, and has more often than not outraced him ­ at times at Silverstone he was two and a half seconds a lap faster in greasy conditions ­ and to Renault's embarrassment he outqualified Trulli yesterday as they shared the fourth row of the grid in the wake of the BMW Williamses, Ferraris and McLaren-Mercedes.

Renault's chief, Patrick Faure, stressed that it was a difficult decision, and bypassed the question of the morality of the team principal Flavio Briatore having management contracts with both Trulli and Alonso by saying: "There are only Renault driver contracts, not Briatore contracts. We did not buy the contracts from Flavio, he brought them to the team." Coincidentally, Briatore's own deal to manage the team has been extended from 2003 to 2005.

Besides Button's evident speed, his youth and cheerful countenance are a marked contrast to Alonso's dour shyness and make him a marketeer's dream, but even that has not been enough. After a dream debut with BMW Williams in 2000 the young Englishman had a torrid time with a tricky and troublesome Benetton Renault. It took him half a season to get on terms with the technical niceties of the car and his superfast team-mate Giancarlo Fisichella, but by the end of the year you would have had trouble inserting a Mild Seven cigarette paper between them. Even Faure admitted that it had been "a remarkable comeback."

The 22 year-old will not be impoverished financially, whatever happens, for he is due to receive a decent sum if he does not drive for the Williams team (to whom he is contracted until 2005) next season. This seems impossible as Ralf Schumacher is already contracted to the team until 2004 and Montoya is poised to re-sign. Button's ongoing deal with BMW Williams may have been the factor that swung Renault's decision, since on current form Button is expected to go back to Williams for 2005. In the meantime he has been turned down by both BAR-Honda and Jaguar, Toyota are a possibility, but say they won't announce their drivers until August. Sauber Petronas is a possibility. But Button's father John said he is "very happy" with his new deal, which may be to join McLaren as a test and development driver for a year and then to replace David Coulthard in 2004, even if that means burning his bridges with Sir Frank Williams.

Button himself said only: "I was slightly surprised at the decision because this season has been good and the team have done a terrific job. Jarno and I have worked well as team-mates. So, yes, I did have a feeling of slight shock at the news. I cannot say exactly [what is going to happen], but I think I am in good shape for next year."

In the circumstances, beating Trulli yesterday was a minor victory in the circumstances, but nonetheless welcome. "It's fantastic," he said cheerfully. "especially in France for Renault. I had a good session, even though I experienced a little understeer at the beginning, and then made a mistake on the final run by locking up into turn eight, which obviously meant that I lost time."

Button was not the only one under the microscope, for the unhappy story of the Orange Arrows team continued. The cars appeared only briefly this weekend, made just one qualifying run apiece, and did not make the cut. Beleaguered team chief Tom Walkinshaw issued a statement rueing the team's inability to qualify for the race, without elucidating further. Cynics believe that he had fulfilled the secret requirements of the Concorde Agreement so that officially his team cannot be said to have missed a race, and thus bought himself the time for further negotiations. But some do not believe that Arrows made a valid attempt to qualify.

Last night Eddie Jordan began soliciting agreement from all the other team principals to allow Arrows' Heinz-Harald Frentzen to drive Giancarlo Fisichella's Jordan-Honda in the race, after the Italian crashed yesterday and was unable to qualify. This is a typical never say never F1 story, since Frentzen has a lawsuit against Jordan after being sacked last year.

With only the two Ferraris and Nick Heidfeld's Sauber Petronas getting Bridgestone into the top 10 Michelin has enjoyed a tyre advantage so far. But it was a tense battle between Schumacher and Montoya that eventually went the way of the Colombian for the fifth race in succession. Twice Schumacher had times disallowed for missing the last corner after screwing up the final chicane, and for cutting another chicane. In the end, Montoya won through by 0.023sec, but had Kimi Raikkonen not made an error on his final lap, the young Finn could have ousted both. He finished fourth overall, fractions behind Rubens Barrichello.

"This was really a good qualifying, probably my best so far," Montoya said, as he continued to fulfil the promise he showed last year. "The fight with Michael was exciting. We didn't think we could get on pole here, as we thought at first that Ferrari was too quick. The car was brilliantly good."

But can he win? After four poles and four defeats, it may be unlikely, especially as Schumacher could tie up a record fifth title this afternoon. But Michelin's latest tyres have been very consistent, and it's unlikely to rain on his parade the way it did at Silverstone. "That makes us," he said, "confident for the race."