It's just been anounced on UK radio that Jenson Button has signed for McLaren. They were a bit sketchy on the details but it was one of those 60 second news updates.
Its a 3 year deal!!! On a few of the websites including PlanetF1.com. No room at the Inn for Kimi I guess.
http://planet-f1.com/story/0,18954,3213_5699508,00.html http://www.thecheckeredflag.co.uk/2009/11/jenson-button-signs-to-mclaren/
Here's to me hoping Kimi goes to Brawn. Sure he won't get paid much but atleast he'll be able to have a very good chance at another WDC.
As a precaution everyone so far is quoting an unconfirmed story in the Guardian Let us not forget that it was also confirmed a few weeks ago that Kimi had signed for McLaren one Monday....
Yes, just had the "on the hour news" and they admitted the report was based on the Guardian story. Sorry, didn't mean to jump the gun, the half past the hour news made it sound like a done deal. Still, as they say, there's no smoke without fire! ( a statement I managed to disprove whilst trying to light a fire at a friends house at the weekend!. I tried, smoke only, she tried, almost instant 2 foot flames!. Hopefully this story will have more flames to it)
Should be interesting if it all works out. McLaren could be the team to beat next year with both of them driving. I just hope that the car is still as competitive as it was in the second half of this season once they remove that fancy KERS button from the steering wheel. >8^) ER
What has Button done? Hamilton will tear him apart! Will Kimi now go to Brawn/Mercedes Silver Arrows?
At the moment it appears to be a "could have signed for" story. The initial report on Absolute radio made it sound like they had recieved confirmation that it was a done deal, but later on they confirmed that they were reporting on the story in The Guardian Newspaper ( they probably realised how misleading the initial report sounded). Rest assured I have given Myself a drive through penalty for a jump start on the story! (the mental replay seems to show that the last red light hadn't quite gone out on this story when I started this thread!).
No worry's Phill, It probably is a done deal but F1 never ceases to amaze. I also noticed re-reading that although MB said they would supply engines to Mclaren till 2015...however.. Nicked from a Blog: Mercedes-Benz and McLaren will continue to co operate with each other, it says, and the supply of engines could continue until 2015. It does not say will continue.
I like this from James Allen's blog: "Indeed the Guardian is reporting this evening that Button is on the point of signing a £6m a year contract for three years. As the piece is written by Alan Henry, who knows what colour the toilet paper is in Woking from one day to the next, this news needs to be taken seriously."
Ferrari: Fernando Alonso Felipe Massa Red Bull: Mark Webber Sebastian Vettel Williams: Rubens Barrichello Nico Huelkenberg Manor GP: Timo Glock McLaren: Lewis Hamilton Jenson Button Renault: Robert Kubica Campos Meta 1: Bruno Senna Toro Rosso: None Mercedes GP (formerly Brawn GP): None Force India: None USF1: None Lotus: None Drivers to be confirmed/available: Heikki Kovalainen (McLaren) Romain Grosjean (Renault) Sebastien Buemi (Toro Rosso) Jaime Alguersuari (Toro Rosso) Adrian Sutil (Force India) Vitantonio Liuzzi (Force India) Nico Rosberg (ex-Williams) Nelson Piquet Jr (ex-Renault) Sebastien Bourdais (ex-Toro Rosso) Kimi Raikkonen (ex-Ferrari) Kazuki Nakajima (ex-Williams) Nick Heidfeld (ex-BMW) Christian Klien (ex-BMW test driver) Jarno Trulli (ex-Toyota) Kamui Kobayashi (ex-Toyota) Eurosport
Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe this goes back to Santander trying to dominate the market in GB. It makes a great deal of sense for them to have an entirely Brit team.
