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Jenson Button Agrees to 3-Year Deal with McLaren

Of course this is not official, but it seems that Jenson Button has already agreed to a 18 million pounds sterling deal with McLaren Mercedes, for the upcoming 3 seasons of Formula One. According to the British newspaper The Guardian, the defending Formula One champion will sign the papers in the upcoming few days, as he has already said “yes” to McLaren's offer.

The 29-year old driver was seen joining his manager Richard Goodard in a tour of the Woking factory over the last weekend, and the aforementioned publication cites sources close to Button who confirm the Brit was quite impressed with what he saw.

In addition, the fact that Ross Brawn is unlikely to update his offer for a contract extension even after his team was purchased by Daimler AG seems to have made all the difference in the world for Jenson. According to Nick Fry, Mercedes' buyout will not lead to a better offer to Button, which drove the British driver away to Woking.

Earlier this month, Ross Brawn confirmed that he won't offer Button more money for his new contract, but will give him more freedom in choosing his personal endorsements for 2010 and beyond.

Apparently, Brawn GP's offer for Button was 2 million pounds sterling shorter of what McLaren had offered the British driver in the first place.

If the report from The Guardian is true, that means Button will earn half of what Lewis Hamilton is making at McLaren for the upcoming 3 years. The former world champion is reportedly earning 12 million pounds sterling per season at Woking.

Button's inking a deal with McLaren Mercedes will lead to the first all-British drivers lineup for a British team since Damon Hill vs David Coulthard at Williams (1995) and the first time two world champions would join forces for the same team since Alain Prost vs Ayrton Senna back in the late '80s.
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