One day after Button was confirmed at McLaren for a multi-year contract, the Daily Express suggested that the reigning world champion was the first man to break the peace between him and his former outfit Brawn GP, as he decided to make a short visit to Woking despite his contractual commitments to Ross Brawn's team.
It appears the Brackley based outfit had already laid out a massive 12 million pound sterling per season offer for Button – 8 million pounds sterling guaranteed and the remaining 4 million in points bonuses – but Brawn decided to take it off the table as soon as he learnt about Jenson's visit to Woking.
According to the aforementioned publication, the 29-year old Brit was in breach of contract when he accepted McLaren's offer to visit their headquarters, which later led to Brawn's decision to scrap the offer. A couple of days after that, McLaren Mercedes officially announce the Brit as their second driver for the 2010 campaign.
“Just a month after being lifted to the heights of World Champion by his team, Button was left in no doubt that he had let them down in a phone call with team principal Ross Brawn at the weekend. That came after a breach of contract when Button was shown around the McLaren factory, a move which shocked Brawn, who thought he was still in the middle of negotiations with Button,” said the report from the Daily Express.
Button reportedly signed a 6 million pounds sterling per season deal with McLaren – for the upcoming 3 years – which was later confirmed by Brawn's CEO Nick Fry to be way under his offer for Button.
“I don't think that it was a financial issue. We understand that our offer to Jenson may well have been in excess of what he might be getting with McLaren,” said Fry.
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