Button had no choice says Jordan

Former grand prix team owner Eddie Jordan believes Jenson Button had no option but to sign for McLaren following the Mercedes-Benz takeover of Brawn GP earlier this week.

Brawn hold Button to contract

• Button banned from working with McLaren until January• 'Clearly loyalty would be nice,' says Nick FryThe depth of anger felt by Brawn at Jenson Button's move to McLaren was put on public display today when the team announced they would hold him tightly to the letter of his contract until the end of the year.Button signed for McLaren this week after negotiations to remain with Brawn seemed to be dragging on for what the 29-year-old driver and his management team concluded was an excessively protracted period.Brawn have responded in the only way remaining to them by forbidding Button even to take part in a press conference with McLaren, their sponsors or his new team-mate Lewis Hamilton until the end of 2009.Over the years it has generally been the convention among Formula One teams to permit drivers who are leaving them at the end of any particular season to start working for their new employer after the final race of the year. As an example, Fernando Alonso was permitted to attend a Ferrari celebration day ahead of joining the Italian team at the start of 2010 despite being contracted to Renault until December 31.Brawn, however, have insisted that Button will not be permitted to assume any duties for McLaren, whether on or off the track, before the end of next month. "Jenson will not be doing anything at all for McLaren until the end of this calendar year," said Nick Fry, the Brawn team's chief executive officer."And if he does, we will be looking on it very dimly. He didn't have any obligations to us in 2010, but there are issues with regard to the [McLaren contract] signing process on which we are in discussion with him at the moment. There are other constraints on what Jenson can do between now and the end of the year which we will be rigorously enforcing."Fry had earlier claimed on autosport.com that Button had not received a better financial offer from McLaren and might even be moving to Brawn's Woking-based rivals for less money than the winners of the world championship constructors' title had tabled."I am actually earning less that I've been paid with Brawn," Button said on BBC Radio 5 yesterday afternoon said. "But things change and people move on. I always want a new challenge and I know that it is going to be difficult going up against Lewis."Either of the teams would have been able to give me a car capable of defending my world championship but I feel I need something else. It's definitely not for the money but because I want to experience something new."Nevertheless, it is clear that Fry considers Button to have been disloyal over his new career move and concedes that they feared the possibility of doing a deal with him began to evaporate last weekend after his Friday visit to the McLaren headquarters, as revealed exclusively by The Guardian."Clearly loyalty would be nice," said Fry waspishly, "but in this day and age you don't expect too much of that. I am always happy when any employee leaves our company if they are going to a better job, and they always go with our blessing if that is the case. In this situation we don't see the logic of the decision and I think Jenson is going to have to up his game if he is going to beat Lewis on home territory."Jenson ButtonBrawnMcLarenFormula OneMotor sportAlan Henryguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Button signs McLaren deal according to report

Formula One world champion Jenson Button has agreed terms on a three-year deal with McLaren and could sign a contract within days, a British newspaper reported today.

Button proud of all-British partnership

Jenson Button vowed to make the United Kingdom proud after joining Lewis Hamilton at McLaren to form an all-British line-up.

Button in talks with McLaren

McLaren remain locked in talks with Jenson Button over a deal which could see the new world champion paired with Lewis Hamilton in an all-British line-up from next year.

Mercedes to take over Brawn

• Mercedes to end its partnership with McLaren• Move could lead to Jenson Button joining McLarenMercedes-Benz today announced it was taking over the Brawn GP Formula One team while ending its partnership with McLaren.Mercedes engines powered Brawn's Jenson Button to the world championship in the recently completed season while the team also claimed the constructors' championship.They will now increase their involvement while Button has been strongly linked with a move to McLaren to team up with his fellow Briton Lewis Hamilton.Mercedes have taken a 75.1% controlling interest in Brawn, although they will continue to be the engine supplier to McLaren.The team principal, Ross Brawn, is expected to remain in his role but the future of his drivers is more uncertain.Button was recently shown around McLaren's Woking premises after reaching an impasse in his contract negotiations with Brawn.The 29-year-old had turned down a reported £4m contract offer – which represented a £1m rise on his current deal but was less than half of what he had earned with Brawn's forerunner, Honda.Button was widely lauded for accepting a £5m pay cut at the start of the 2009 season and expected his loyalty to have been rewarded after leading Brawn to two titles in their debut season.But Mercedes's new influence at Brawn could lead to the German-born Niko Rosberg being installed as lead driver, with BMW's Nick Heidfeld as his likely partner – allowing Button to pursue options elsewhere.That is most likely to be at McLaren, with the constructor's sponsors Vodafone happy to bankroll at least part of Button's wages if he were to form an all-English drivers' line-up alongside the 2008 champion, Hamilton.Yesterday the Mercedes Sports president, Norbert Haug, revealed he was attempting to secure Heidfeld, who has driven for BMW since 2006. "We are speaking with Nick Heidfeld as well," Haug told DPA. "Mercedes-Benz supports the idea of signing an experienced and capable German driver. There is, however, no reason to finalise the driver situation too hastily."BrawnMcLarenJenson ButtonFormula OneMotor sportguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds