Button joins Hamilton in McLaren 'dream team'

Jenson Button will partner fellow Briton Lewis Hamilton at McLaren-Mercedes from next year in a "dream team" of the Formula One world champions of the past two years .

McLaren said Button, who won the 2009 title with Brawn GP, had agreed a multi-year deal to join 2008 champion Hamilton in a "sensational double world champion driver line-up."

It will be the first time in Formula 1 history that a team has started the new season with a line-up featuring the most recent two successive world champions.

It is also the first pairing of two British world champions since Graham Hill (1962, 1968) partnered Jim Clark (1963, 1965) at Lotus in 1968.

Button, 29, had turned down an offer from Brawn, with whom he won the 2009 drivers' title in the team's debut season. Brawn has now been taken over by Mercedes, who are thought to be interested in seeking an all-German driver line-up for 2010.

"It's always a difficult decision to leave a team (formerly Honda) when you've been there for so long," Button said in a statement issued by McLaren.

"But life is all about challenges - and, most important of all, it's about challenging yourself.

"So, although I won the world championship with Brawn GP last year, and I'll never forget that, I was always adamant that I wanted to continue to set myself fresh challenges."

There were no immediate details on the agreement, although British media reports Tuesday had spoken of a three-year deal worth 6 million pounds (10 million dollars) a year.

McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh said Button's move was "in no way motivated by money."

"We'll be paying him no more than he could be getting elsewhere, and that fact is a reflection of not only Jenson's belief in Vodafone McLaren Mercedes but also his desire and ambition to build on the phenomenal results he achieved during the 2009 season," he said.

Whitmarsh said he was convinced the new driver line-up - with Button coming in for Finnish driver Heikki Kovalainen - will make the team "an even more complete and competitive operation."

"It has always been our policy to employ the two very best possible drivers - and, in Jenson and Lewis, we feel we not only have the fastest pairing on the 2010 grid, but also the two most complete, professional and dedicated drivers in Formula 1," he said.

"Moreover, I'm confident that we'll be able to successfully balance and harness Jenson's and Lewis's complementary skill-sets."

Button said it would be "a great pleasure" to race alongside 24-year-old Hamilton, who will entering his fourth season with McLaren.

"I'm sure there9s plenty that we can learn from each other, and I'm really looking forward to using our combined knowledge to push the team forward," he said.

Hamilton described the deal as "fantastic news for all British sports fans", while sending good wished to Kovalainen "who is one of the nicest human beings I've ever met."

He added: "I already know Jenson, and we get on very well together. We both really want our team to succeed. Although we'll be pushing each other hard, I9m sure we'll very quickly establish a great working relationship.

"He's an exceptional driver: very controlled and very smooth, and he has a real depth of knowledge and experience. I think we'll complement each other very well, and our collaboration will make the team stronger as a result."

Meanwhile 2007 world champion Kimi Raikkonen is to take time out next season after talks with McLaren had not resulted in a deal, his manager said in a newspaper interview.

Raikkonen had been looking for a top team after leaving Ferrari at the end of last season.

"The alternatives at the Formula One level were McLaren or nothing. Kimi and McLaren could not agree and that is why he will not drive in the Formula One - at least next year." the Finnish driver's manager Steve Robertson told the Turun Sanomat.

Raikkonen drove for McLaren before winning the 2007 title with Ferrari. He plans to take part in some rally events and may also enter the 24-hour Le Mans race in June 2010, the report said.

--DPA

abr/vt

( 701 Words)

2009-11-18-20:31:59 (IANS)

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