BUTTON A SIX-MILLION POUND MAN

+ Click to Enlarge DREAM TEAM 2009 Formula 1 World champion Jenson Button (left) will move to McLaren in 2010 to race as team mate to 2008 title holder Lewis Hamilton. Images: AFP

November 17, 2009
By Alan Baldwin

Formula 1 World champion Jenson Button has agreed terms on a three-year deal with McLaren and could sign a contract within days, Britain's Guardian newspaper reported on Tuesday.

There was no immediate comment from the Woking-based team or Button's management.

The newspaper's long-standing F1 reporter Alan Henry, who has close connections with McLaren, said the deal would be worth £6-million (R75-million) a year to 29-year-old Button.

If the deal goes through, Button would almost double his current salary and partner compatriot Lewis Hamilton in all-British line-up of champions at the Mercedes-powered team.

He won the championship with Brawn imn 2009, with that team becoming Mercedes GP in 2010 after a takeover was announced on Monday.

Button was given a guided tour of the McLaren factory last Friday.

Brawn chief executive Nick Fry said on Monday that he hoped a deal could still be done with the driver but made clear that the Mercedes' takeover did not mean the team would now throw more money at him.

Fry said: "We've had discussions with Jenson which we think are a sensible salary and this is not going to change anything in that respect.

"I hope Jenson will be with us next season, we've worked together for a good few years now and won a World championship together," he added.

"We want Jenson to be with us but we have to recognise that F1 is not divorced from the rest of the world. We work within a budget and if we spend the money in one area, we can't spend it in another." - Reuters