Jenson Button Joins McLaren; Kimi Raikkonen To Sit Out Next Season

It is official: F1 World champion Jenson Button's move to McLaren has been confirmed, in a deal worth USD 30 million over three years, being the first team ever to start a season with two previous World champions. Button is 29 years old, while Lewis Hamilton is only 24. According to Button, the trip to McLaren's headquarters earlier this month made all the difference.

“It wasn't simply the technical resources and the incredible standards of excellence that impressed me”, Button said. “I was equally struck by the ambition, the motivation and the winning spirit that flow through everybody there”.

British newspaper The Guardian reported that Mercedes GP, as Brawn GP has been renamed to, offered to double Button's salary, but the terms were rejected.

Button's move means Kimi Raikkonen has nowhere to go despite the persistent rumours. David Robertson, Raikkonen's manager, confirmed that an offer was on the table, but it was not lucrative enough. Robertson further added that the 2007 World champion would instead head for the World Rally Championship next year. We don't see why not when he is poised to earn more if he sits the next season out?

AboutSeow Yaohan

Seow Yao Han strives to bring you the latest and the most comprehensive information on cars available in Malaysia. But it's never easy for him to talk and write cars in this part of the world because what you lust after is often not what you drive home. When the euphoria of test-driving that branded, super-expensive sports car dies down, he just goes home in his less-than-glamorous ride.