BUTTON'S READY TO CASH IN
ABOVE: Jenson Button is set for a bumper new deal
26th October 2009
By James Murray
BRAWN Racing boss Ross Brawn yesterday insisted newly-crowned world champ Jenson Button is “99 per cent certain” to stay with the team next season.
Talks are continuing to try to deliver a pay deal worthy of Button’s champion status, and it has been reported Brawn GP are prepared to offer the Briton close to £8m a year.
Button took a £5million pay cut when former team owners Honda pulled out last December, and even agreed to pay for his own flights and hotel bills.
But Brawn looks set to reward him with a huge salary hike to keep him from the clutches of other ambitious teams.
The F1 rumour mill recently threw up McLaren as one such suitor – raising the enticing prospect of Button joining up with fellow Brit and 2008 world champion Lewis Hamilton.
Brawn said: “Jenson’s obviously a great driver, so he has got to be a target. “Jenson has a contract with us. But that contract is not the salary of a world champion, not the salary of a team that is in a much stronger position than it was 10 months ago.
“We’re working to find a balance between what we can afford and what he feels is fair for his status and the contribution he can make in the future.”
Brawn admitted he couldn’t say for sure yet that Button will stay adding: “You’re never 100 per cent – but I’d say 99 per cent.”
The Formula One season wraps up in Abu Dhabi next weekend, and Brawn expects the situation to be resolved within a fortnight of the fi nal grand prix.
He said: “It’s really diffi cult going into Abu Dhabi, because obviously we still want to put up a good performance there – and it’s not the best environment.
“We’ve set a target of two weeks after the last race to get this concluded. But maybe it’ll happen before then.
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