Formula One news

Brawn: We want Jenson to stay

With rumours circulating of new World Champion Jenson Button joining Lewis Hamilton at McLaren in 2010, Brawn GP Team Principal Ross Brawn is forthright in saying that he hopes the Englishman extends his contract with the team ahead of his season of title defence.

With Button's management having already expressed his desire to stay put, Lewis Hamilton has commented that he would welcome his compatriot as a team-mate, should a move to McLaren be made. "Jenson's obviously a great driver and for those teams without their full compliment of drivers he has got to be a target," Brawn said to the BBC.

With no jobs certain at the start of the year, Brawn and Button are now double World Champions

"We want Jenson to stay in the team and I think we will find a solution. Jenson has a contract with us but of course that contract is not the salary of a World Champion and not the salary of a team that is now in a much stronger position than it was ten months ago."

With Button having taken a £5m pay cut to £3m for his crowning campaign, Brawn stresses that the two parties are searching for 'middle ground'. "We are working with Jenson to find a balance between what we can afford, what he feels is fair for his status and what he can contribute in the future," Ross continued. "You are never 100 percent (sure of an outcome) but I would say 99 percent.

Brawn believes that an agreement should be met no later than a fortnight after next weekend's season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

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