Post by blacktulip on Nov 17, 2009 17:32:13 GMT
From ITV Sport
World champion Jenson Button could sign to partner Lewis Hamilton in an all-British 2010 line-up at McLaren in a matter of days, reports Tuesday’s Guardian newspaper.
Speculation that Button may turn his back on Brawn – which will now be renamed Mercedes GP following the German carmaker’s takeover of the team on Monday – has heightened since the 29-year-old visited McLaren’s Woking factory last Friday.
Contract talks with his current team are believed to have reached an impasse, with the pay rise Button and his management are looking for to reflect his new status as world champion not having been granted by Brawn’s management.
The deadlock in those talks may now result in Button ending his seven-year relationship with the Brackley squad, with the Guardian’s veteran Formula 1 journalist Alan Henry – who has close contacts with McLaren – reporting that the new champion has agreed terms on a three-year deal with the Woking team.
And although Button has not yet signed, the newspaper says that discussions have led to a £6m a year contract being put on the table which the Englishman could agree to within days.
Brawn’s management are understood to be keeping the door open on its discussions with Button, but team CEO Nick Fry admitted on Monday that the Mercedes takeover wouldn’t result in the German carmaker throwing additional money in the direction of the world champion.
Last winter Button voluntarily agreed to a reduction of the £8m-a-year salary he had previously earned with Honda to stay on at the new streamlined Brawn team following the sudden F1 withdrawal of its former Japanese owner.
Having also paid his own travel expenses during his ultimately title-winning year, Button’s management have been keen to increase his retainer back up towards its original level – although the Briton’s manager Richard Goddard claimed last weekend their his driver’s demands were still “way less than under Honda”.
But although German car giant Mercedes's announcement that it had taken a controlling interest in Brawn and will run the team as its own works squad raised the prospect that Button’s demands could now be more easily accommodated, Fry thinks the offer they have made Button is fair in the current climate.
“We've had discussions with Jenson over what we think is a sensible salary and this deal is not going to change anything in that respect," Fry told BBC Radio Five Live.
"I hope Jenson will be with us as we've been together for a good few years, but F1 is not divorced from the rest of the world.
"The reason we've survived as a team is that we have operated in our means."
As itv.com/f1 revealed last week, Ferrari refugee Kimi Raikkonen’s management had been guests of McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh at the team’s Technology Centre several days before Button – with the Finn at one stage having looked a strong favourite to seal a return to the Woking squad.
However, the financial terms being offered to the 2007 world champion appear to have remained a stumbling block in talks, with any Button move to McLaren set to throw the Finn’s F1 future into serious doubt.
Brawn has long already been thought to have secured Nico Rosberg's services for 2010, with the German driver having had his departure from Williams confirmed where he is being replaced by former Brawn man Rubens Barrichello.
Fellow German Nick Heidfeld, a free agent following long-time employer BMW’s withdrawal from F1, is also believed to be in the frame at both the former Brawn team and McLaren.
Mercedes motorsport boss Norbert Haug was quoted in the German press over the weekend as saying it had been in talks with its former protégé about next season.
World champion Jenson Button could sign to partner Lewis Hamilton in an all-British 2010 line-up at McLaren in a matter of days, reports Tuesday’s Guardian newspaper.
Speculation that Button may turn his back on Brawn – which will now be renamed Mercedes GP following the German carmaker’s takeover of the team on Monday – has heightened since the 29-year-old visited McLaren’s Woking factory last Friday.
Contract talks with his current team are believed to have reached an impasse, with the pay rise Button and his management are looking for to reflect his new status as world champion not having been granted by Brawn’s management.
The deadlock in those talks may now result in Button ending his seven-year relationship with the Brackley squad, with the Guardian’s veteran Formula 1 journalist Alan Henry – who has close contacts with McLaren – reporting that the new champion has agreed terms on a three-year deal with the Woking team.
And although Button has not yet signed, the newspaper says that discussions have led to a £6m a year contract being put on the table which the Englishman could agree to within days.
Brawn’s management are understood to be keeping the door open on its discussions with Button, but team CEO Nick Fry admitted on Monday that the Mercedes takeover wouldn’t result in the German carmaker throwing additional money in the direction of the world champion.
Last winter Button voluntarily agreed to a reduction of the £8m-a-year salary he had previously earned with Honda to stay on at the new streamlined Brawn team following the sudden F1 withdrawal of its former Japanese owner.
Having also paid his own travel expenses during his ultimately title-winning year, Button’s management have been keen to increase his retainer back up towards its original level – although the Briton’s manager Richard Goddard claimed last weekend their his driver’s demands were still “way less than under Honda”.
But although German car giant Mercedes's announcement that it had taken a controlling interest in Brawn and will run the team as its own works squad raised the prospect that Button’s demands could now be more easily accommodated, Fry thinks the offer they have made Button is fair in the current climate.
“We've had discussions with Jenson over what we think is a sensible salary and this deal is not going to change anything in that respect," Fry told BBC Radio Five Live.
"I hope Jenson will be with us as we've been together for a good few years, but F1 is not divorced from the rest of the world.
"The reason we've survived as a team is that we have operated in our means."
As itv.com/f1 revealed last week, Ferrari refugee Kimi Raikkonen’s management had been guests of McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh at the team’s Technology Centre several days before Button – with the Finn at one stage having looked a strong favourite to seal a return to the Woking squad.
However, the financial terms being offered to the 2007 world champion appear to have remained a stumbling block in talks, with any Button move to McLaren set to throw the Finn’s F1 future into serious doubt.
Brawn has long already been thought to have secured Nico Rosberg's services for 2010, with the German driver having had his departure from Williams confirmed where he is being replaced by former Brawn man Rubens Barrichello.
Fellow German Nick Heidfeld, a free agent following long-time employer BMW’s withdrawal from F1, is also believed to be in the frame at both the former Brawn team and McLaren.
Mercedes motorsport boss Norbert Haug was quoted in the German press over the weekend as saying it had been in talks with its former protégé about next season.
